Seashells

I found a seashell in my bed the other day. You can tell it’s old – all of the edges are worn away and its ridges are smooth. I picked it up to try to figure out where it came from, and my room faded into the backdrop as I remembered sitting on the grainy beach with...

My Ultimate Family

This is the last 2/5ths of an essay I wrote to help me deal with everything swimming through my head this week.  I think these two parts stand on their own, but if you are ambitious enough please check out the full version. Part IV The coaches with UP’s year round...

175 Grams

I had the words a few minutes ago. I sit down to write, though, and I realize they’re fleeting. My mind goes back and forth, wanting to write and share, and then wanting to close my eyes until sleep takes me. But I’m going to write. They’re mere words, and while...

Sarah VanWagenen

Many days lately – and many to come – have sadness because of the suffering, and now passing, of Sarah VanWagenen. One comfort in these days of sadness, and the days to come, is having had the gladness of her life. In Ultimate Peace, as in life, we open...

Coaching the Principle of Nonviolence in a Violent World

Its 1:00 in the morning and thoughts of Ultimate Peace practice are keeping me awake. Namely, how does UP introduce and coach the principle of nonviolence with the burgeoning team in Bethlehem, West Bank (pictured below in their first practice of 2014). Nearly all of...