Tag: problem solving

Big-picture Peace

Under the Wave off Kanagawa, Katsushika Hokusai (1769-1849)

The United Nations International Day of Peace, annually set for September 21st, has a request: a 24-hour ceasefire of all hostilities on the planet. This year’s theme, “Cultivating a Culture of Peace,” calls for teaching the values of dialogue (see blog, “Mend Differences through Dialogue,” 8-19-24) and mutual respect to the 1.2 billion youth worldwide. Have we given up on adults knowing how to use dialogue and mutual respect in resolving conflicts?

It seems that adult problem-solving efforts to create peace on earth are like the tiny boats facing the looming giant wave in Katsushika Hokusai’s color woodblock print, Under the Wave off  Kanagawa. I must admit that the first time I saw this captivating image in Chicago’s Art Institute years ago, I was so focused on the wave action that initially I did not see the boats! Due to being on paper, the print is only on view for 3-4 months every 5 years. This original gem has re-surfaced from protective storage and again is on display (September 5, 2024–January 6, 2025) in the Art Institute’s Ando Gallery, my favorite room in the entire museum. This time, I knew to look for the boats. What if we are looking for world peace in all the wrong places?

Most museum visitors never see the Tadao Ando Gallery, or Gallery 109, as it sits in an innermost corner of the Art Institute’s Japanese collections. It is a compact space compared to many roomy galleries in other sections of the museum. Also, it is one of the few darkened spaces.

Ando was a self-taught architect. His haunting 16 free-standing wood columns in the womb-like environment compel one to slow down, take deeper breaths, and realize that this is a bodymind immersion into a different sense of time and space. Walking through the “forest” of oak pillars creates an atmosphere of peaceful reverence; the message is to refocus your gaze and get ready to look for what is beyond this “forest” grove.

We have English writer John Heywood to thank for his catchy proverb from 1546: “Can’t see the forest for the trees.” It seems to apply to many situations today, but especially to country leaders who lack the capacity to grasp the disastrous consequences of continuing wars. While dwelling solely on certain details, the big picture is often far from sightlines. Combating inequality, advocating for human rights, and championing climate actions for our planet are factors that lie beyond the immediate details of our international conflicts.

Re-look at Hokusai’s masterpiece. Mount Fuji holds still beyond the crashing wave. Again, we almost miss seeing beyond first details. This mountain is considered a spiritual place. How might we look for big-picture peace and create an interfaith spiritual culture for world dialogues? Isn’t peace first within a baby’s heart?

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz 

327. When have you caught yourself missing some big-picture viewpoint?

328. How often do you refocus your gaze in looking for solutions to your personal sense of peace? 

Prevention is an Intervention

September is Suicide Prevention Month. While suicidal thoughts may be common among individuals, regardless of age, gender or background, they are the tip of an iceberg. Suicidal thoughts signal underlying issues that need attention.

Suicide is the cause of death of 49,476 individuals in the U.S. in the most recent year of verified records — 2022, making suicide the 11th leading cause of death. Even more concerning is CDC’s estimate of 1.6 million attempted suicides in 2022. These numbers reflect a massive call for help. The U. S. government stepped up and partnered with the CDC and SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) to provide a 10-year strategy to tackle mental health and overdose issues in suicide. This Federal Action Plan sponsored by the Biden and Harris administration has a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention.

Systems thinker Peter Senge wisely suggests, “Today’s problem comes from yesterday’s solution.” Many “solutions” of yesterday were flawed. Wars are flawed. Of particular concern is the rise in suicides committed by veterans.

The 2023 annual report of the National Veteran Suicide Prevention effort (based on 2021 data) found that veteran suicide rates increased by 11.6% from 2020. This increase has escalated since the wars linked to 9/11 terrorism. Countless soldiers suffer from traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and other bodymind wounding.

This escalation translates into more than 17 veterans taking their own lives each day with the highest percentage occurring in ages 50 or older. This is twice the suicide rate for non-veteran individuals ages 55+. Guns are the chosen vehicle for 53% of all suicide deaths. Veterans were taught to use guns.

As Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori outlined, “Preventing war is the work of politicians, establishing lasting peace is the work of educators.” Each one of us can increase peace within ourselves and educate others about warning signs of suicide (https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/common-with-mental-illness/risk-of-suicide/):

  • Increased substance use (alcohol and drugs)
  • Aggressive behavior
  • Withdrawal from friends, family and community
  • Dramatic mood swings
  • Impulsive or reckless behavior

Possible behavior changes prior to suicide include:

  • Collecting and saving pills or buying a weapon
  • Giving away possessions
  • Tying up loose ends, like organizing personal papers or paying off debts
  • Saying goodbye to friends and family      

We know what is helpful in daily living:

  • A sense of purpose: feeling valued and contributing to a job, family, and/or community;
  • Social connections: positive relationships with co-workers, family, and friends;
  • Financial stability: financial security (helps but is not 100% protective);
  • Access to resources: access to mental health assistance;
  • Routine and structure: a daily routine through employment, taking classes, or volunteer work.

Let’s respectfully acknowledge those who have attempted suicide, died by suicide, and their families/friends.

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has received more than 10.8 million calls, texts and chats since its 2022 launch. 988 is available 24/7 for anyone in crisis.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz 

325. Do you know anyone at risk for suicide?

326. How might you extend a lifeline to them?                     

Pearls of Labor

“School days, school days, good old golden rule days….” The kids are back in school, but how many educators pay heed to this 1907 phrase? Rather, the “…tune of a hick’ry stick” might be educators’ go-to behavior management, as corporal punishment is legal in private schools in every state except Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. Furthermore, the outdated discipline is legal in public schools in 17 states and practiced in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. Students of color and those with disabilities disproportionately receive corporal punishment.

The Senate introduced the Protecting our Students in Schools Act of 2023, which would prohibit corporal punishment in schools that receive federal funding. Investments are recommended to transform school discipline with restorative justice practices. When students are taught problem-solving skills, benefits ripple into their lives beyond the classroom.

According to the August 2024 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Report (Part IV), students’ health, mental health, and well-being has worsened over the past 10 years —  https://bit.ly/3T3JNv8. An increased percentage of U.S. adolescents report facing school-based violence and/or bullying. Absenteeism due to students’ safety concerns is a related issue. While eliminating school corporal punishment is not a total solution, adults model coping strategies for students. Hitting children is not a coping strategy. Hands are for helping, not hurting.

While pandemic levels were higher, current student mental health statistics suggest that schools might re-consider their methods:

  • 40% of students overall are experiencing persistent feelings of sadness/hopelessness with a higher percentage among female students (53%), some of whom have considered suicide;
  • 42% of Hispanic students feel persistently sad or hopeless, 26% experience poor mental health, 18% have considered suicide, and 16% have made suicide plans;
  • 10% of Black students have attempted suicide.

The 2023 statistics for female students and LGBTQ+ students are staggering:

  • Nearly 2 in 10 female students experienced sexual violence (1 in 10 being physically forced to have sex);
  • More than 3 in 5 LGBTQ+ students experienced persistent feelings of sadness/hopelessness;
  • Nearly 3 in 10 LGBTQ+ students were bullied at school;
  • 1 in 5 LGBTQ+ students attempted suicide during the past year.

As a former school psychologist, these statistics are disturbing. I worked in a progressive school system in Massachusetts where prevention was a main driver of my work. We administered kindergarten screening to each 5-year-old to provide appropriate help from day one. In second grade, each student was administered an individual IQ test. Later I worked in a progressive Illinois high school within a self-contained special education program with students who were in danger of becoming dropouts. Our labor-of-love Problem Solving Conferences were created to nurture and teach students how to dialogue about issues with teachers, classmates, and family members. While we did not call it modeling the golden rule, that is what we were doing.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz 

321. How many youth do you know who may be in need of problem-solving training?

322. What opportunities do you have for mentoring youth?    

Christmas Pearls

Christmas Eve 100+ years ago (2014) found German, British, Belgian and French soldiers celebrating the holiday by singing together in the midst of World War I. Territorial battlelines were crossed. Language borders were crossed. Soldier orders were crossed. The newly installed Catholic Pope, Benedict XV, had asked for a Christmas truce, but his earnest request did not receive any blessing from officers.

Reports from soldiers over the years have blurred war memories, but certain survivors remember a fragile peace on a moonlit night: “First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours until we started ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful,’ the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words Adeste Fideles, and I thought, well, this is really a most extraordinary thing…nations singing the same carol in the middle of a war.” Other versions of that extraordinary night focus on the singing of Silent Night, Holy Night. No one seems to know exactly where the first singers emerged.

I am reminded of words attributed to anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” It can take a long time to change the world, but never doubt that any small change has depth. This 100-year-old Christmas story provides a legacy blessing for our times.

On Christmas Day in 1914 some German soldiers ditched the precarious protection of their trenches and held up signs: “You no shoot, we no shoot.” Some soldiers traded gifts of cigarettes, food, buttons, and hats. The Christmas truce even delivered the ability to bury opposing fallen soldiers who were frozen in place, struck down in territory between trenches. Stories vary, but Adolf Hitler, a Corporal of the 16th Bavarians, reportedly reprimanded German soldiers: “Such a thing should not happen in wartime. Have you no German sense of honor?”

If you look up the word honor, the noun means “adherence to what is right or to a conventional standard of conduct.” As a verb, honor means “to regard or treat (someone) with admiration and respect.” An argument must be made that war defies what is “right” – killing, looting, and other horrors do not treat others with respect. Yet, Hitler found followers to tear down decency.    

Many people on our precious planet commit to peaceful problem solving where we build up one another in times of disaster. It is a possibility that more folks will become thoughtful citizens and change agents in the new year. Might we begin with school children on the playground? Before recess can kids create personal posters with their version of “You don’t shove, I don’t shove?”

A pearl can take from 6 months to 4 years for mature development. Surely, people are capable of maturity. It is our birthright.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

249. How do you define what is honorable?

250. What peaceful problem solving will you engage in today?