Seems peace, love and understanding are too big an ask these days. Maybe we need to start with something simplier, something closer to home. Like simply saying hello!
You know, when you pass someone on the street, looking at them squarely, face to face, and smiling, tipping your head back and saying hey, how's your day, how you doing? Or, better yet, saying hello and just letting in hang there, an open invitation to engage. Hello's always good, assuming they're open to it, don't have their ears fully budded and their world sequestered inside their head. Hello's always good as long as someone's not precoccupied with a conversation on their phone, something about their dog or their kid at their school or their husband's car or the appointment they're about to miss! Hey's easy, generally just a quick tip of the head, an utterance of acknowledgement, little to no commitment, not much required in return. Simple hey and on your way, convenient, no attachment. More like a greeting card, a fleeting text, just as easily conveyed by someone driving by waving from a window rolled down. Then there's hello. Saying hello, saying I'm open, saying I want to know.
Rich, Please keep on your list. Bill
I love it! Let me throw "Howdy!" into the mix. I've been saying it to strangers for years, and it seems to disorient people in a positive, curious, and friendly manner. Whatever works . . .