When asked what Peace and Dignity Journeys is, I repeatedly
say something similar to: “Peace and Dignity Journeys is a spiritual and
indigenous run aimed to connect communities.
It is a seven-month run from Alaska to Guatemala. Runners will carry sacred staffs and prayers
from communities visited and unite them with prayers from South America.” I keep my answer general and vague because in
most cases, I do not have enough time to describe in detail what Peace and
Dignity Journeys is or means to me.
If given more time to answer, I would say that PDJ is a
phenomenal movement that is built by the energy of hundreds and hundreds of
people. Communities all throughout Canada,
the US, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Belize and Guatemala welcome and
celebrate the runners’ arrival. For
them, it gives them hope and honor to pray with those who willingly sacrifice
comfort, food, family and normal life for complete immersion into ceremony, prayer
and road life. Here, it can be hard for
some to comprehend why someone would choose to live in such an uncomfortable situation.
My reason is fairly simple: PDJ as an opportunity to help create healthy change in our communities. I am willing to put my life on pause because
I believe that my decision will cause someone to become physically active, to take
shorter showers & conserve water, to buy local produce, to treat nature
with respect, to help his/her neighbors, to try harder in school, to appreciate
other cultures or to sacrifice their wants to help others. I want to motivate others to give all they can
to their communities, families, homes, and themselves.
In short, to me PDJ is growth–never anything immobile or stunted.
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