Los Angeles, CA, United States
I recorded the audio for my debut book SEE NO STRANGER from my closet a couple of months into the pandemic. It was harder than I thought, and yet the process also returned me to wonder time and again. I am grateful to be able to share this as my offering to you in these 100 days of peace. A world in which we are all safe and can flourish is a world that includes all of our stories. We can build this world together. Let wonder be the orientation that guides us.
PEACE BUILDER BIOGRAPHY
Valarie Kaur is a Sikh American civil rights activist, lawyer, filmmaker, innovator, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project. She has won national acclaim for her story-based advocacy, helping to win policy change on issues ranging from hate crimes to digital freedom. Her speeches have reached millions worldwide and inspired a movement to reclaim love as a force for justice.
DAILY PEACE ACTION
Wonder is our birthright…If we are safe and nurtured enough to develop our capacity to wonder, we start to wonder about the people in our lives, too—their thoughts and experiences, their pain and joy, their wants and needs. We begin to sense that they are to themselves as vast and complex as we are to ourselves, their inner world as infinite as our own. In other words, we are seeing them as our equal. We are gaining information about how to love them. Wonder is the wellspring for love.
I invite you to wonder about someone in your life today – maybe it’s the unhoused neighbor around the corner, or the person in your social media feed who shares a different view than you, or maybe it’s the person who bags your groceries. Look upon their face and see them as a sister, brother, sibling. Can you wonder what it feels like in their body today? Notice how this act of wondering feels in your own body. How might this information inform the next step you take in your encounter? Share with us your experiences with wonder by using the hashtag #SeeNoStrangerx100Days