Lessons in life, during the light filled times~ Happy Thanksgiving!

It is a rare person who can pierce the veil between ordinary life, consumed with matters of physical survival, and pursuit of the empowered path of purpose and meaning unless he or she is motivated by a crisis. Most often we require the failure of some system of power that we rely on before we take action. ~Carolyn Myss

I love this quote from Carolyn, probably because it has proved right for me on many occasions. However at this point in my life, I am also experiencing the power in taking action from a space of complete clarity and peace… and not only the dark filled times when a power system falls out of alignment.

Today I feel inspired to share about the lighter moments in life, which if we really stop to think about are more often than not and interestingly less appreciated or remembered than not.  I ponder upon this and wonder why our human condition tends to dictate a need to use our hard times as leverage to do our inner work from which we grow, taking for granted the opportunities which the lighter experiences offer to teach. 

If life in its entire splendor has its ups and downs which serve a deep purpose to us all, why is it that the downs or harder experiences tend to leave a deeper impact than the ups or lighter experiences? Have we become so immersed in our self growth that we have developed a tendency to see only the jewel in the midst of the darkness leaving less appreciation for the light filled times, that bring forward experiences of joy and love. In other words, why not also learn from the light filled times, not as parameters for how things should be, but rather opportunities to learn to simply immerse ourselves in the delight and love of what is.

During this journey with Knitting Peace, I am learning that nothing is as I had expected, yet the experience of peace and purpose which I wanted to have is fully present and embedded in my daily life. I am learning to be present to all that is, especially the moments of joy that serve as reminders and inspirations to continue to walk this path of purpose and meaning.

In service to sharing my gratitude for this light filled time, during this day of Grace and Thanksgiving, Knitting Peace is sharing our work at a drastically reduced price, for all to enjoy.  We hope you love our products, which are made with enthusiasm and joy by incarcerated women, seeking moments of empowerment and inspiration.

To enjoy our Thanksgiving Sale visit www.knittingpeace.com

May this Thanksgiving season bring you blessings of true joy and peace.

~Namaste

Pre-adolescents in jail and nowhere to go

Knitting Peace, as a social enterprise seeks to empower its team of incarcerated women in overriding some of their limiting core beliefs with new visions of what is possible for themselves and their children.

In doing so, I am becoming more and more aware of their daily challenges within the Bolivian jail, and count on the pleasure of experiencing their trust as they share with me some of their stories and hardships. One situation which I became aware of and is of great concern to me is in regards to the children reaching the age limit to legally remain within the jail.

Legally, children of incarcerated women in Bolivia may live within the jail with their mothers until the age of six. Exceptions are made in the case of those children who don’t have family to live with outside the jail. These special cases are considered, and the children are allowed to remain within the jail until the age of 12, assuming they have no other alternative.

Once these pre-adolescents reach the age of 12, they are required to leave the jail. Fortunately by then most of these children have a family member or older sibling they can count on to support them while their mothers remain incarcerated. However, there are more than a handful of cases in which these adolescents have nowhere to go.

Picture taken by Hannah Kozak

Charo, one of my team members approached me with great concern because her daughter turns 12 next month. Charo has at least 10 more years to complete her sentence, does not have any family members she can count on to care for her daughter, and her time to decide what to do is running out fast. Charo shared with me that her alternatives are to either send her little girl to a home for street children, or rent her a little room where she can live alone. Charo says she is willing to work hard to make sure her daughters financial needs are met, but she is concerned for her daughter’s safety and well being while living on the outside without her.

To my surprise, Charo expressed much concern in sending her daughter to live in a home for homeless children, where she could count on adult supervision, discipline, schooling and food. Many of the women shared with me that in these homes their children would be exposed to street kids who have been vulnerable to drugs, prostitution and sexual abuse, and fear their children will become vulnerable to these as well while in these homes.  

For these reasons Charo and many of the women with pre-adolescents within the jail are more inclined to send their children to live alone in a rented room, without any supervision and away from the nurturing eye of their mothers.

It is in situations like this that I have a hard time understanding what the lesson opportunity is for these children. Why do some lives have to be so hard? I can’t imagine living alone at the age of 12, how I would have handled it, or what choices I may have made. It seems a recipe for disaster or at the very least another teenage pregnancy or the repetition of the cycle from which these girls were brought into.

At best, my work through Knitting Peace strives to provide opportunities to change the trajectory of the children of these incarcerated women in service to healing and empowering generations to come; however I feel I am at a loss in this situation being that the alternatives seem to lead to more of the same.  My hope is to find an alternative to bridge the gap between living with their mothers, and living in alignment with their higher purpose and well being. 

Picture taken by Hannah Kozak