I committed to practicing 64 ways to live nonviolently during the most recent Season for Nonviolence (https://gandhiinstitute.org/season-for-nonviolence/) in three areas of life: personal, interpersonal, and community.
Personal: The practice that comes to mind is reverence. I have been violent towards myself. I sometimes blame myself for decisions whose outcomes were not what I expected. My attention focused on what the decision cost me, instead of why I arrived at the decision in the first place. When I practice reverence, I recognize when I descend into “blaming thoughts.”
Interpersonal: The practice that comes to mind is forgiveness. During the Season, I wrote a letter of forgiveness to a person I blamed for harming me. As I wrote my letter of forgiveness, I accepted responsibility for my actions – the ones that I took and the ones I decided not to take. I thought more about a question a friend asked me, “What did you learn?” When I practice forgiveness, I connect with people and build healthy relationships.
Community: The practice that comes to mind is release. I value peace of mind, yet I was not living, striving, or thriving in peace. I spent my time and energy adding stress to my life. I think of release as a way to behave in alignment with my value of peace of mind. During the Season, I practiced letting go of my past. When I let go of my past, I am stepping into who I want to be and building community in ways I didn’t think were possible.
On the last day of the Season for Nonviolence, April 4, I celebrated my nonviolent journey of learning, growth, creativity, and purpose. I felt invigorated. I did something for 64 consecutive days that I wasn’t confident I could do. I will continue to practice ways to think and act nonviolently with myself, others, and all the communities I am a part of.
— Jonathon Jones
