a peace-filled week

i've experienced a particularly peaceful week. last friday morning, john and i headed to conseco fieldhouse in downtown indianapolis to hear the dalai lama present a brief talk to the public.



the video posted here is admittedly pretty terrible. however, it never ceases to amaze me how a man so small in physical stature can emanate such powerful positivity. his messages were quite simple in form and in practice, perhaps oversimplified at times, yet particularly poignant, at least to me. a few of my favorite excerpts from the dalai lama's talk:

• if basic mental attitude weak, then small disturbance = big deal.
• with tragedy comes new opportunity; do not destroy possibility of positive change.
• everyone has right to achieve happy life. those with affection and compassion are much happier.

the dalai lama stressed that friendship and peace ultimately come from trust. his comments reminded me of a point that indiana university professor elinor ostrom made in one of her post-nobel award speeches last february; she stated, "you cannot have a large mechanism that works over time when people do not trust one another." whether she intended this to be in reference to economic theory or academic philosophy, i am not completely sure; however, it may be in all of our interests to find common anchors as we wade through the complexity of everyday life. perhaps this, in its simplest form, would help us to build strong and fruitful foundations at every level.

john and i closed out our weekend with a visit to one of our mutually beloved places in indianapolis, the ima. walking the grounds and exploring the gardens is especially peaceful during the weekend. today it occurred to us that it is the first spring that we've been able to enjoy the gardens in full bloom.

we also took a few minutes to peruse the newest exhibition at the museum. tara donovan: untitled proved to be a surprisingly fun and light-hearted exhibit of a relatively young american artist's work.