The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the year 2000 as the ‘International Year for the Culture of Peace’.

Manifesto 2000 is a document drafted by a group of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, and aims to enable individuals to make a personal contribution to living a culture of peace on a daily basis. I recently attended a meditation in honor of this special project, and the program included an art display, the peaceful sound of crystal bowls, harp music and a vocalist.

It is hard to imagine a celebration of peace (or any celebration for that matter) without the arts. Art is the medium through which we express our uniqueness, and, ultimately, share our souls. When we look at art, we see and feel the pure essence of the work. It really doesn’t matter if the artist is male or female, or to what cultural or ethnic group he or she belongs. It makes me think of sunsets. No two are ever the same. Sunsets occur continuously as the Earth turns, a new palette of shape and color revealed by degrees, varying, depending upon the distance of the Earth from the sun, the cloud cover, and the amount of moisture in the air. It seems to us that we are experiencing a discrete entity – the sunset in front of us – but really it is a part of a larger, never-ending flow.

I think of artistic expression in this way. There is a flow of creative energy that is part of the Cosmic intelligence. That creative intelligence is there in each of us. As an individual opens to that light of creativity, allowing it to flow through the physical being, and brings that energy into a form perceivable to the human senses, he or she is revealing to the world another form of that endless flowing palette of creative possibility. Through artistic expression, we share another form that the miracle of creation can take.

It is through human consciousness that the Universe becomes aware of itself. Artistic expression is a way in which humans can dip into the potential of the implicate order of the Universe and make it explicate. Perhaps we are each like a little water droplet, which, when combined with many, many others, and when the light passes through us, a rainbow is revealed. If we see ourselves as a part of a cosmic orchestration of creative expression, each an instrument contributing to the wholeness of the expression of humanness, how could we conceive of anything other than peace? Every being is important to that expression, therefore respected and valued.

Manifesto 2000 is about respecting all life, rejecting violence, sharing with others, listening to understand, preserving the planet and rediscovering solidarity. If the culture of peace has inspired you to write poetry, stories, music or to paint, contributions are welcomed at the public gallery of the International Year of the Culture of Peace website. info@2000cultureofpeace.com

Gwen Randall-Young is a psychotherapist and author of Dancing Soul: The Voice of Spirit Evolving. She has also written Echoes Through Time: A Message of Healing for Men, Baby Soul: A Blessing of Spirit, and produced audiocassettes entitled, After Recess: A Calming Meditation for the Elementary School Classroom, and Healing the Past: A Meditation for Wholeness. New Audiocassette!! A World Of Kindness: Experiencing Personal and Global Harmony grandall@telusplanet.net or gwendall@home.com