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Suse Sampaio Simões travelled the world on a ship to 12 countries, including Bahamas, Dominica, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Singapore, Vietnam, China and Japan. She wrote this article to share her perception of peace after experiencing so many cultures and customs. Versão em Português
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Lately, all humanity wants is to live in peace; but what peace?
I see protests, people fighting, yelling, crying, and dying over the same request for peace.
I hear people saying constantly “stay in peace,” or “I need to find my inner peace.” What kind of peace is that? Apparently, we don’t even know the peace we necessarily need.
An interesting fact about a traveler is when he goes on a journey, it ends up being an inner journey. The frequent battle between you and yourself is the hardest one, when you start to challenge yourself.
During these fights, I realized that the universal language is a smile. It does not matter if it comes with a sad look or filled with tears. The smile is what matters, especially the sincere ones. Those bring me peace on moments when words cannot express a true emotion.
In a small village called Senase in Ghana, Africa, I met poverty up close and people who had many reasons to cry. However, there was the place I found the most beautiful smiles filled with pride when showing their teeth, where I found the funniest laughs of the kids that barely had water to drink, and smiles of the proud parents when I carried their babies in my arms. I saw the people dancing with the rhythm of the drums and their sweat streaming through their bodies expressing their passion for dancing. In the middle of all that rhythm, I saw peace within that community. Despite all the daily obstacles and the frequent battle seeking for help, they had peace.
Peace depends on the individual. It could be a millionaire with his mansions in Singapore or a rice farmer in Vietnam. It could be a Rasta in South Africa fighting for his rights or citizens in China for their freedom of expression. It could be the religious in India seeking for faith, or a driver in Mauritius trying to sustain his family. It could be the native in Dominica haunting for their place in society, or a student trying to grow in Japan.
Peace depends on our reality.
It could be a gay couple holding hands on the streets, women fighting for equal rights, marches from the youth to legalize marijuana, the strikes to raise salaries, or desperate wishes for an end of war – everything reflects upon a wish to live in peace.
It could be a gay couple holding hands on the streets, women fighting for equal rights, marches from the youth to legalize marijuana, the strikes to raise salaries, or desperate wishes for an end of war – everything reflects upon a wish to live in peace.
It was amazing to discover the first step to find your own peace is to accept others. Among all these countries, it’s easy to see all the differences. The hard part is to feel and notice that deep inside we are all the same.
All the misery, corruption, and everyday difficulties make it hard to find that balance. That is the reason why I found the strength of a smile, everywhere I went, never failed me.
It doesn’t matter where we come from; we are all seeking for the same food to feed our soul – the peace that brightens us.
Smile, always!
Find more on Suse’s blog. Visit Suse on Wiser.org and send her a message of peace.
Learn more and share with us on Wiser’s Peace Day group.
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