PeaceWalker Blog

"Every Crack is Also an Opening." When in the midst of great change, it is helpful to remember how a chick is born. From the view of the chick, it is a terrifying struggle. Confined and curled in a dark shell, half-formed, the chick eats all of its food and stretches to the contours of its shell. It begins to feel hungry and cramped. Eventually, the chick begins to starve and feels suffocated by the ever-shrinking space of its world. Finally, its own growth begins to crack the shell, and the world as the chick knows it is coming to an end. Its sky is falling. As the chick wriggles through the cracks, it begins to eat its shell. In that moment - growing but fragile, starving and cramped, its world breaking - the chick must feel like it is dying. Yet once everything it has relied on falls away, the chick is born. It doesn't die, but falls into the world. The lesson is profound. Transformation always involves the falling away of things we have relied ...

 The Calm Before the Storm at the 2016 Michigan Dept. of Corrections Annual Conference Who will you choose to be?  What will you choose to see?   These are the questions that I asked the directors, wardens and other leaders at the 2016 Michigan Department of Corrections Annual Conference. Will we choose the path of being an Ethical Protector ? Are we clear on where our "Moral Compass" points? Can we see the Life Value inside of each person we meet, beyond their behaviors, relative beliefs and values? We are all protectors, we just have to make sure we are protecting the right things! ISIS, drug dealers and other criminals are protecting something too. It's just the wrong things!  The picture at the top of this page is of the empty conference room before everyone arrived earlier today. There where just under 300 leaders from the Michigan Dept. of Corrections met from all over the upper and lower peninsula of the state. They get together every year at...

  Mojo Risin' - for most it's a passage from the 1971 Door's song, L.A. Woman, but to me and my friends it was also a legendary motorcycle spot that was talked about in whispers by our older brethren when we were kids. You could see the sand, hills and trails of this dirt biking Valhalla from US131 before urban sprawl enveloped it more than 20 years ago. Surfers had their illusive ultimate wave that  they spent their life chasing. Skateboarders of old had the perfect pool. Ski and snowboard aficionado's have their perfect slope or powder. Jerry, Mark, and I had what we knew as "Mojos." The perfect dirt bike riding spot. A place where the days lasted forever, your ride was epic, legends were made, everything was... well... perfect.  The reality of this "perfect" spot was a far cry from all the hype. However, many kept the illusion of this perfect place vivid in their minds. As if this would be the be all, end all of  their...

Breathe Relax Let go of Complaining Let go of Anger Let go of Worrying Let go of Guilt Let go of Competing Let go of Judgement Let go of Regret Let go of Blame Let go of Fear Appreciate What You Have Focus on What You Can Do Be Here, Now Keep Going!

Josh B. wrote a wonderfully insightful comment in response to my Drifting post a couple weeks ago. Here's what he wrote: "I find it curious that the noun "drift" and the verb "drive" share the same etymological origin. we typically think of drift as apathetic, without purpose or intent, disconnected…the opposite of “drive.” but historically, the "drift" was the result of the "drive." The relationship between the ideas was direct and strong. we see that traditional relationship when we look at the leg sweep. the attacker drives, the defender drifts. There is a parallel in our relationships. A friend chooses, a partner withdraws. Did we drift from who we were, or did we drive to who we are? When we notice that we’re not as close as we used to be, is that because it just happened, or is it because we made choices, and our choices made the space? If we made choices, even choices of omission, do we have somet...

  Albert Einstein is said to have suggested that the most important question we could ask ourselves is, "Is the universe a friendly place or not?" In his opinion how we answer that question determines our individual and humanity's destiny.   Hmmm... I know my answer. What's yours? ~Craig

  It was a hot summer day a few weeks after my 14th birthday. I was out with my mom, dad,  brother, and a few friends. We were a few mile out from shore off from Grand Haven on Lake Michigan. It was late in the afternoon and we were done fishing. Dad asked if anyone wanted to dive in for a quick swim before we headed back to get something to eat? I took off my shirt and dove right in. The cool water felt good on the hot day.  The lake started out fine, but within the hour the winds picked up pretty dramatically and the waves were starting to get choppy. I was big for my age and a strong swimmer, but I had ventured a ways from the boat. A little further than I had anticipated. I couldn't hear my dad yelling for everyone to get into the boat and by the time I caught on that it was time to pack it in and get back, the boat and I had drifted even further apart. As I began swimming toward my folks, the boat just seemed to effortlessly, unintentionally glide further ...