Peace Poetry & Brain Health Exercises Daily Words

Our Community of Humanity Blog in Inner Child Magazine

3/31/2016

Kimberly Burnham's Latest Community of Humanity Column

25. Healing and the Poet's Brain March, 2016
Not everyone aspires to be a poet. Not everyone enjoys reading poetry but perhaps we should rethink the role of poetry in individual healing and brain health. Start at the beginning with the feeling—what is that feeling—that creates a stirring poem .... [Full Article] @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #interfaith #spirituality #communityofhumanity #neurotheology Enjoy the October, 2014 cover story featuring Kimberly Burnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/feature-of-the-month.php and see her poetry at http://www.innerchildpress.com/the-year-of-the-poet.php

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#Healing #Poet #Brain #World #Peace #Healing #CommunityOfHumanity by #KimberlyBurnham #InnerChildPress Magazine http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php

24. Role of Interfaith Group in World Peace February, 2016

Role of Interfaith Group in World Peace Are you part of a religious or spiritual community? Do you feel connected and understood by your neighbors? Do you feel like we are all part of the community of humanity? There are some religious communities that are trying to convert people ... [Full Article] @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #interfaith #spirituality #communityofhumanity #neurotheology Enjoy the October, 2014 cover story featuring Kimberly Burnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/feature-of-the-month.php and see her poetry at http://www.innerchildpress.com/the-year-of-the-poet.php

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Role of #Interfaith Groups #World #Peace #Healing #CommunityOfHumanity by #KimberlyBurnham #InnerChildPress Magazine http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php

23. A Happy New Year the Neurotheology of Dopamine, January, 2015

A Happy New Year the Neurotheology of Dopamine. This year eat, sleep, move your body, meditate, sing, love and if you can do it in community even better. According to Kenneth Blum et al (2015) “Finding happiness may not only reside in our genome [genetic material or genes] but may indeed be impacted by positive meditative practices, positive psychology, spiritual acceptance, love of others and self, and taking inventory of ourselves-one day at a time.” [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #dopamine #parkinsonsdisease #neurotheology

22. On Motivation, Let Go of Carrots and Sticks December, 2016

On Motivation, Let Go of Carrots and Sticks ... Why do we do things? What motivates you? Do rewards or punishments motive you, truly? If we want peace and success in this world for all communities and for all people, what do we have to do? Recent world events have shown how people try to motive others. The problem ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #motivation # peace #neurotheology

21. Pattern Recognition at the Parliament of World's Religions November, 2015

Pattern Recognition at the Parliament of World's Religions. Bowls of colored sand stood ready on October 15th, 2015. Across the hallway people were preparing vegetarian food. Hanging from the walkway ceilings were flags and banners with quotes on peace, the environment, and faith. A walking mediation labyrinth was being laid down in bright blue tape. Stages ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #2015Parliament #peace #neurotheology

20. Inside, Seeing From the Fourth Dimension October, 2015

Inside, Seeing From the Fourth Dimension. If you draw a four sided square on a piece of paper, it is said to be a two dimensional object. It has length and width but not height. Of course a piece of paper does have height, so it is not truly a two dimensional object but for our purposes we will think ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #vision #peace #neurotheology

19. Thriving on the Beauty in Diversity September, 2015

Thriving on the Beauty in Diversity. There is value in enjoying our differences and similarities. When everyone is the same life is boring. Our brains are not excited if all we can see is one kind of tree or all we can buy is one kind of car, which is the same as everyone else's. Sameness also increases competition ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #diversity #beauty #neurotheology

18. The Source of Peace August, 2015

The Source of PEACE. With the 4th of July celebrated in the US, I have been thinking about war and peace and how we separate ourselves from one another and how we build our communities. My contribution to the monthly poetry anthology, The Year of The Poet II from Inner Child Press focused on peace and the first three quotes in this column. Albert Einstein said, "Peace cannot be kept by ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #peace #poetry #neurotheology

17. Inside and Outside July, 2015

Inside and Outside. Who Are We Exiling? "Is it true you used to be a Mormon?" He was tall, dark, and handsome with a bright warm smile. "Yes" I said to the man who was on Benay Lappe's Queer Talmud Retreat with me.
"Me too!" He said as we explored what we had in common. ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #exile #LDS #neurotheology

16. Connection to the Earth June, 2015

Connection to the Earth. Two years ago I was bicycling through Spokane, Washington on a 3000 mile Cross-USA trip from Seattle to Washington, DC. In the last two years I moved across the country from Connecticut to Washington state and this spring just moved into a new house with trees and land for a large garden. Sponsored by Hazon which means vision in Hebrew, the bicycle adventure ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #earth #connection #neurotheology

15. Vignettes May, 2015

Vignettes ... Words shared can cause joy and pain, delight and laughter, misery and despair and ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #stories #connection #neurotheology

13. Finding the Faces of My Community April 2015

Finding the Faces of My Community ... When I look into your face do I see a predator or prey, a friend or enemy, are you trustworthy or ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #stories #faces #neurotheology

12. Neurodiversity March 2015

Neurodiversity ... We have agreed to call a certain wave length of light: RED but we can't know if we see it the same... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

11. Chronic Pain From An Alternative Medicine Perspective February 2015

Chronic Pain From An Alternative Medicine Perspective. Pain abounds in our community, but so too does joy and success and creative solutions. The pain in a child's face, tears streaming after a fall on the grassy hill or the scratch of a tree branch. The pain of loss ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #chronicpain #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

10. Brain Solids January 2015

Brain Solids. Sometimes we have to shift dimensions to see the connections and the tiny tendrils that reach across the walls and canyons. My kitchen table, for example, feels solid, a light blond wood that gives a deep solid tone when my knuckles rap on it. My hands feel solid, too. And I imagine this is what is real, the solid things in my life. In Traditional Chinese Medicine ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #brain #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

9. Conversion December 2014

The cold, solitary and hibernation energies of winter can be warmed by community, acceptance and change as once more we move toward spring and new life. What NEW life will you drink into your core? What energies will you convert in the joy within the balance of your life? Are you a convert? Do you seek converts to your cause? ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #conversion #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

8. Attachment Disorders and What Do I Need? November 2014

Every month, pick up each thing in your house. Hold it. Feel it. Notice the texture, the color, the softness and ask yourself, "Does this bring me JOY?" This is an adapted exercise from Suze Orman, a well known financial advisor and TV personality. Paying attention to what we are attached to can be good for the wallet and for the heart. A Move ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #moving #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

7. Playing Back A Colorful Life With Lots of Moving Pieces

Playing Back A Colorful Life With Lots of Moving Pieces. Last week I participated in a Playback Theatre workshop or playshop as we called it. Penny Clayton from the Centre for Playback Theatre taught this amazingly rich beautiful class in Seattle about five hours drive from my home in Spokane, Washington. One of the values of Playback Theatre is to create a space where everyone feels ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #playback #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

6. Kind Possession Now October 2014

Kind Possession Now. Possession! What do you possess? What are your prized possessions? What have you worked hard for or perhaps inherited? There is a beautiful coffee table book entitled, Material World: A Global Family Portrait (1995) by Peter Menzel, Charles C. Mann, Paul Kennedy and a host of amazing photographers. It is a graphic and statistical snapshot of families worldwide ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #possession #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

If Not Now. The famous Jewish religious leader, Hillel, born over 2000 years ago in Babylon in 110 BCE said, "If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?" His words, "If Not Now?" have sparked a movement within the Jewish community which is looking at the means being applied to the peace process in Israel and Palestine. Jews are considering what is justified in the name of creating peace and safety. Is there a line that can't be crossed even if your own life, your family, your land and possessions are in jeopardy? ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #ifnotnow #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

5. Future Time and Space Unknown September 2014

Future Time and Space Unknown. John F. Kennedy said . . . "Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #future #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

Who do you consult about the future? Psychics feel the energy, look at auras and predict the future. Astrologers consult the stars, giving us guides for ways to live our lives based on what they see. Whether it helps or hurts is an individual mindset. ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #future #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

4. Real Community Prayer August 2014

Real Community Prayer ... There is a saying, "Worrying is like praying for what you don't want." ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #prayer #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

3. Poetic Responsibility and Peace July 2014

Poetic Responsibility and Peace ... Do you know someone who uses poetry to create healing or, perhaps, through poetry or other means seeks to build a stronger peace in this world? If you do, have you ever asked yourself whether you have any responsibility toward that person? Often we ask ourselves what our responsibility is when we ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #responsibility #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

2. Jiggling Eyes, Genetics and The Potential to Recover June 2014

Jiggling Eyes, Genetics and The Potential to Recover ... By the time I was twenty-eight, I was working as a professional photographer and a freelance journalist. I had seen Paris from the top of the Eifel Tower, climbed to ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #vision #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

1. The Resilience, Beauty and Healing in Natural Diversity May 2014

The Resilience, Beauty and Healing in Natural Diversity ... Environmentalist and author of The Fifth Sacred Thing, Starhawk said, "Value diversity—for diversity creates resilience." ... [Full Article @KimberlyBurnham http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php #vision #stories #neurodiversity #neurotheology

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Thriving on the Beauty in Diversity

9/10/2015

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Originally Posted in Our Community of Humanity at Inner Child Magazine

Thriving on the Beauty in Diversity

There is value in enjoying our differences and similarities. When everyone is the same life is boring. Our brains are not excited if all we can see is one kind of tree or all we can buy is one kind of car, which is the same as everyone else's. Sameness also increases competition, which if you think about it — what is competition ... the differentiation of self as better than another in some way. In order to win you have to be different.

If we value differences then everyone can win in some way. Everyone can be better or best adapted to a particular task. What are you good at? What can you be the best at?

The biological value of diversity is survival. The more different kinds of birds, butterflies, or dinosaurs there are when the environment shifts or changes, the more likely one, two, or more will survive. If everyone is the same and the environment becomes too cold, too hot, too blue, the wrong mix of air, or too much water, none will survive. But if some people, animals, butterflies, or bacteria do better in the cold, hot, blue, or wet environment then they can survive and life continues.

An example of this kind of diversity is Charles Darwin's finches. He studied all the different types of beaks on the finches of the Galapagos Island. Each beak seems designed for a particular kind of food, whether for sucking nectar from a bright purple flower, chewing tiny protein filled seeds, catching mosquitoes on the fly, or picking grubs out from under layers of fractal shaped tree bark. We don't even have to agree on whether these differences evolved or were created in order to enjoy the beauty and practicality of being different. If all the birds are eating exactly the same kind of food, they will run out. There is enough for a greater number of birds in a diverse environment with a variety of birds skilled in finding and eating different things.

You could look at the extinction of dinosaurs and say, they were too similar in their needs for food, temperature, air, etc. Their environment changed and none survived, but some creatures, like horseshoe crabs did survive from a time before the era of dinosaurs. The horseshoe crabs were different from dinosaurs in the ways that mattered in the new environment and they survived. They thrive in coastal water today.

There are lots of ways in which we enjoy diversity. Many people like to see lots of different kinds of butterflies in a ripe summer field. True, some people try to kill the white cabbage butterflies, which eats vegetable crops, but it is the caterpillar that does the most damage. The adult butterfly feeds on nectar and pollinates flowers. Some people don't believe in the giant blue morpho butterfly of Latin America, it is so rare and elusive. Some people even hate butterflies and find them creepy. Other people study certain types of butterflies and ignore the rest. You may have a favorite kind of butterfly but none of this changes the benefit to butterfly survival of having lots of different kinds of butterflies.

In this world we have a diversity of religions and faith traditions. Perhaps there is a survival value in the variety of ways to appreciate life, community, and nature. Perhaps there is some other kind of value in having a diverse and pluralistic society. Different religions came out of a wide variety of different cultures and environments. It seems odd to think of one as better than another or more valuable than another. The religions of the world are just different from one another and each appeals to certain people and doesn't appeal to others.

There is a Japanese saying, "There are many ways to get to the top of Mount Fuji." Let us appreciate the beauty, even of what we don't understand or enjoy on other levels. It is simply enough that someone enjoys the beauty of what exists.

https://www.nervewhisperer.solutions/peace/category/community-of-humanity-blog

http://www.innerchildmagazine.com/the-community-of-humanity.php

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Our Community of Humanity Blog in Inner Child Magazine

Thriving on the Beauty in Diversity

Now Available: Awakenings

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Our Community of Humanity Blog in Inner Child Magazine

Thriving on the Beauty in Diversity

Now Available: Awakenings

(Integrative Medicine)​Poet & ​Brain Health Expert

Archives

Categories

(Integrative Medicine)
Poet & Brain Health Expert