hold the peace

When France was on the verge of being invaded, Anais Nin lived in a houseboat on the river Seine.
Weeks in which she committed to finishing her project of painting and fixing the boat.

Knowing, it seemed silly in light of the adversity ahead.

But it kept her from despair.

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“Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity.”
That is how I learned the phrase in the 80s. 

But there are actually two origin stories to this quote, and both are slightly different to that one.

“Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.”
Misattributed, to George Carlin.
He never said that, but internet thinks he did.
There are entire pages dedicated to all the quotes falsely attributed to him.

And a sign in an Vietnam War protest in 1969:
“Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity.”
There is a photo from this one, shared on History in Pics, so we can assume this one is real.

Now there are few topics studied as intensely as the relationship between war, peace, politics or governing systems.
A conversation to which I will have nothing to contribute to, obviously.

But I do want to add an alternative quote which I found on researching the above one.
Words derived from a Roman record:

“Si vis pacem, para bellum”

If you want peace, prepare for war.

Fearing the price you have to pay for invading and taking over another country, seems just as essential to me as having a justice system in place.
Fear for the consequences may stop a villain in their tracks.

So I do not want to “dumb this discussion down” to pure pacifism.

As a final thought, before we go back to holding the peace, I want to add a famous story about a big venomous snake, taken from the Indian storybook “Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna”.

It is the story about a snake going on the spiritual path, but getting in huge trouble because he was no longer fending for himself.
He was at the mercy of all who wanted to harm him.
And as sort of a ps he was also eating the wrong diet for his intestines, because he turned veganist.
Again, a difficult topic, because who is to say what the human intestines are made for?
But just putting it here, for your consideration.
Self-harm in the form of malnutrition, is also harm. If you want to live a peaceful life you must also consider giving your body what it needs. Veganism for humans too, should come from understanding or believing it is the best thing for your body. It should be an informed choice, not just a spiritual choice from not wanting to harm because then you are not counting harm to your own body.

But I digress!

Either way, so the snake was in poor condition when the sage who had given him his initiation, visited him again.
And the advice the sage gave him, was to stand up for himself:
“I never told you not to hiss!” he said to the snake.
A variation to the Roman saying, to prepare for war.

So obviously when I say “Hold the peace” I do not mean to not fend for yourself, to not prepare for war when you think that is what is required, and I certainly am not telling you not to hiss, when needed.
Taking care of yourself, and learning to stand your ground in this world, is a spiritual practice.

But what “Hold the peace” means for me, and in the light of this blogpost, is to not give your peace away.
Ground yourself in practices of beauty, like Anais Nin renovating her houseboat on the river Seine.
And do not give up peace in order to “achieve” the things in life you find important.

Because what good are our accomplishments, if we have given up our peace in order to achieve them?

If we have given up the peace in ourselves, and are now in panic, in anxiety, in anger?
How can whatever we achieve have been worth that terrible loss?

At the end of her life Anais Nin started giving lectures, and in one of them she looked back at the first years of the war, when she was still in Paris.
Before she would migrate to the United States.

Looking back, what did she learn?
What would she like to tell the audience about the origins of war, now that decades had passed?

“If each one of us took very seriously the fact that every little act, every little word we utter, every injury we do to another human being is really what is projected into larger issues (…)
Then each one of us would do the work of creating a human self that wouldn’t go to war.”

Anais Nin, University of Michigan, winter 1974

Because you really can’t fight for peace, any more than you can fuck for virginity.

But should you desire to do so?
Yes, you can HOLD your virginity.
You can protect the integrity of your body, you can revere its purity.
You can acknowledge and celebrate your virgin state.
Hiss defending it.
Prepare to fight for it.

And in the same manner you can HOLD, the peace.
Even when the enemy is on the doorstep, you can choose beauty.

Anais Nin called it;
“A refusal to despair.”

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~Suzanne
Rock Star Writer.

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It is possible the above story has already given you an outline of what you want to discuss.

If you think you would benefit from a broader approach, my suggestion will be to sort your story into:

1. the earthly plane
Your possessions, worldly matters, income streams, worries and responsibilities you fear you can’t meet.
A helpful term could be how do things look from the perspective of financial freedom, or worldly freedom.

2. your purpose
What is the work you love doing, what are the moments big or small, that you know you are aligned. Has God told you, what you’re here for?
This is about creative freedom, or even karmic freedom.
Are you free to do the work, that is yours?

3. your Rock Star expansion
What is the fullest expression you are here to bring?
And what are the areas you’re playing small, as if cut off from your powers?
We investigate if in those areas, the rules you play by are yours, or society’s.
“3” is related to sexual freedom.
Like anything, it is up to you if that is part of our conversation or not.

Because all three points are just a suggestion, they offer a good framework providing one hour for every topic, to go deeper looking for answers.
But the setlist is not fixed.

I have merely built the stage for us, and we have three hours.

It is up for you to take it.

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