Charter for Compassion Blog

This is an invitation to PEACE. NOT an Anti-war plea. Language matters.

It has been more than 150 years since Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis lived and mothered on this planet. Most people are not aware that our current U.S. Mother's Day began as a campaign for cleanliness and sanitation. Anna Jarvis gave birth to 11 children, four who made it to adulthood, and the rest died from childhood sicknesses brought on by a la...

This week's guest author is Michael Lisagor, a longtime friend of the Charter, who's contributed to our newsletter on occasion. This piece on stretching ourselves really struck me, and I'm so pleased to share his words here with you.With warm regards, Marilyn I remember when my brother ran his first full marathon. He was so proud of himself for hav...

We are very excited to invite you to join us on Wednesday, the 5th of April, for our monthly Global Read, which doesn't just promise to be a special one, it is a special one! We will celebrate Golden Rule Day 2023 on this very same day. And it is no coincidence, of course, that we've selected the publication GoldenRuleism to share, explore and prom...

I will start my reflections on my 184 St. Patrick's Day Challenge, purposely, with a long quote that resonated strongly with me, upon completion of the one Full Day on the saddle. -Fyodor Dostoevsky, "The grass glowed with bright and fragrant flowers, birds were flying fearlessly in the air, perched on my head and arms, they joyfully struck me with...

Day 40 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Day 40! Whew! What a whirlwind! If you read one or more blog posts, watched our videos on social media, or felt something with anything we put out there to celebrate Marti...

Day 39 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Today's entry is a good one on Home.  What is home, and the meaning behind it? Thanks for sharing, Shane. And we are one day away from finishing these ...

Day 38 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Lovely thoughts today on compassion for others as it sprouts from self-compassion. Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our soci...

Day 37 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Shane digs into empathy today, and I'm digging it!  And he's biking lots and lots in just one day! Have this in mind as you read today's entry: What if empa...

Day 36 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  I loved today's entry from Shane. Forgiveness lets us live free of the emotional weigh that although most likely caused by others, it's only held and stays heavy due to ou...

Day 35 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Today Shane takes us through a wonderful journey of seeing ourselves in the eyes of those we might sometimes have a hard time understanding, or getting along with, or even...

Day 34 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, or via ema...

Day 33 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Today Shane gives a real-life application to emotional awareness and using what he practiced while biking, in a real-life situation the same day! Serendipitous, or did he ...

Day 32 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Another self-regulation sesh, I'm all about it. Thanks, Shane. Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our social media platforms l...

From Marilyn: Barbara Kaufmann is the lead for the Charter for Compassion's Art Sector. She is also a skilled writer and has a background as a medical professional. The response that follows is a reflection on last week's blog on the natural disaster that occurred in Syria and Turkey earlier this month. This entry was written on February ...

Day 31 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  I LOVE HAVING METHODS OF RELAXATION and SELF-REGULATION TAUGHT TO ME! IT'S MY LOVE LANGUAGE. Shane gives us lots of lovin' by sharing a couple of different metho...

Day 30 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Although I agree for the most part with Shane's message today, I'd say I can replace parenthood, with mentoring, or even with friends, helping via example, and leading the...

Day 29 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  I love the slinky metaphor used in today's entry by Shane. I also love the way he shares his personal worries and what's causing him stress and a creative 5-item list to h...

Day 28 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, or via ema...

Day 27 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, or via ema...

Day 26 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Appreciation post for the ones before us and who we are because, somehow, of them. As an immigrant myself, I felt this blog. Thanks, Shane! Read Day 1 here to learn the st...

Day 25 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Wooooof...! Get ready to be fired up...! Remembering compassion behind all that Shane shares today, how do we get there? How do we change all these systems we've grown up ...

Day 24 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Today Shane shares a great eye-opener with lots of knowledge behind it. This might be a bit controversial to some, but I truly believe that a compassionate society is...

Day 20 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Man, oh, man...! I loved today's entry. I think so many of these compassion training that are offered are so great, but are offered to the crowd that would make the least impac...

Day 20 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  A beautiful discourse on Love, loving, and what the world would be if we had it as our main priority, from personal, to parental, and political. Great reminders that love moves...

Day 20 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Today Shane brings us back to the possibilities of Peace. The joy that we may share, the sole opportunity to have peace should be reason enough to celebrate. Since we gotta put...

Day 20 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  CONGRATULATIONS, SHANEW! You are halfway there!! 800 km down, 800 more to go, and 20 more beautiful insights for us all. Todays sharing on you experiences made me realize that ...

Day 19 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Today's message goes along the lines of igniting. Fuel! How do we energize our desire to create peace in our communities? What is our fuel, what helps us light that compas...

Day 18 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, or via ema...

Day 17 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  Today Shane gives us beautiful words on forgiveness and letting go. Thank you, Shane! Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all ...

Day 16 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media.  I shed a tear or two reading this one... Feel it with me... Peace is hard work, my friends... Peace is going against the grain. It's trying and trying and doing and doing....

Day 15 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. Shane shares about those quotes... those saying that really shake you. That leaves you thinking...! How many times have we experienced those? Experienced a change of opinion? A ...

Day 14 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. Shane talks about Shool Day of Non-Violence and Peace and how authenticity and staying true to one's beliefs precedes peace. Thanks, Shane! Read Day 1 here to learn the sto...

Day 13 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. Shane talks to us about how Companionship aids Peace and our Compassionate goals. Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all ...

Day 12 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. Today we got a great story coming from Ireland, Shane's motherland! Thanks for sharing, Shane! Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via a...

Day 11 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. Breathing... Breathwork... Oh! the power of Oxygen...! Read up, my friends! Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our social media...

Day 10 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. Happy 400 Km, Shane! Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Linke...

"Healing Ourselves, Healing the World; Delving Deeper through the Chakras" Delve: to examine carefully to discover more information What does "Healing the World" look like? Can I imagine a healed self? This is the Charter for Compassion's 2023 invitation and exploration. To ourselves, and to you, dear, blessed human. In the film, "Mission: Joy - Fi...

Day 9 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. Shane split his 40 k indoors and outdoors. Peace requires work.  Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our social media platfo...

Day 8 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. A beautiful story on parenthood and the magic of children's curiosity. Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our social media platforms ...

Day 7 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. This one goes to the environment and Mother Earth.  Read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! You can reach us via all our social media platforms like Facebook,...

Here's Day 6 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. This one is very Golden Rule-y, and I'm all for it. You can read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! And Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5. We hope you fee...

Here's Day 5 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. You can read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! And Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4. We hope you feel inspired by what is shared during the upcoming days, and if en...

Dear friends of the Charter, Here's Day 4 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. You can read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! And Day 2, and Day 3. We hope you feel inspired by what is shared during the up...

Dear friends of the Charter, Here's Day 3 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. You can read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! And Day 2, here. We hope you feel inspired by what is shared during the upcoming day...

Dear friends of the Charter, Here's Day 2 of the "40K for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. You can read Day 1 here to learn the story behind this series! We hope you feel inspired by what is shared during the upcoming days, and if encouraged e...

Dear friends of the Charter,  I'm excited to introduce you to our "40Ks for 40 Days" blog series during our Martin Luther King 40 days of Peace Campaign on the Charter's blog and through social media. Shane O'Connor, our newest staff member, has decided to bike 40 km a day during these 40 days.  While on his daily ride...

So many of us have had to watch the slaughter taking place in Ukraine, and we are angry! We ache for a cease-fire and a return to sanity! What human beings have apparently not caught on to is that war is obsolete! Many of us have learned from previous conflicts, and with the specter of Climate Change looming over all of us, that fighting with a des...

It is just an ordinary bench that has on it a plaque that, along with graphics of 2 people talking on a bench, there is the text "Sit here if you don't mind someone stopping to say hello," located on the main street in downtown Richmond Hill, Ontario.  By sitting on a Happy to Chat bench, people will know that you're open to a friendly ta...

I feel with God His oneness He takes my breath away Exhaling and inhaling Rhythmically in and out Present in prayer and meditation He exists inside me And outside of me He is the life force that exists in all creatures He occupies the whole universe Yet he has found a home Within the inner corners of my heart He is the force that holds Molecules an...

Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. August 2022 The Encuentro Mundial de Valores (EMV) (Worldwide Meeting on Human Values) is an annual event that was launched with the visit of H.H. the Dalai Lama back in 2006, in the city of Monterrey, Mexico, founded and directed by María Cristina González Parás as a non-profit NGO. Every year, this event offers...

Covid. The Floods in Eastern Kentucky. The War in Ukraine. Records Heat Waves in Europe. Monkeypox. Inflation Across the Globe. Do I need to go on? I didn't think so. Take a deep breath. Let quiet enter your being. Breathe out. Read on. As the Mayan Calendar heralded an end to an epoch on December 21, 2012, we welcomed in a brave new world. But, we...

The Charter for Compassion has a new strategic partner, The New 3Rs. Today's guest author is Dr. M. Starita Boyce Ansari, founder The New 3Rs. Dr. Ansari is a scholar in the field of economics of discrimination and education inequity. Her work has been recognized by The Ford Foundation, The W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and numerous institutions. As th...

It was 10:30 in the evening. I sat rather exhausted outside the Atlanta airport on a bench, soaking up waves of the Georgian humidity. The only aspiration I had at this point was anticipating the hotel shuttle picking me up. Marty, another jet-lagged passenger, shuffled his way over to the vacant seat beside me and sat down. I was on my way to spea...

"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. ----Victor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning  In the 1980s, in an agricultural county in central California, teen pregnancy rates were soaring off the charts. Parents and educators ...

The shadow side of human nature springs from defense mechanisms deeply embedded in biology and psychology. Not an abstract at all, the shadow is the expression of the dark side of the human ego. Very few people meet circumstances in their lives that cause them to conquer the wildness of their own ego. However, the dissolution of the human ego is ta...