Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Sunday morning conversations these past two weeks have been a bit different than usual, as they fell on a certain December 25 and a certain January 1!

But we at the Red Vic have peaceful conversations every day, and in these holiday weeks our guests have really been in the spirit to talk about what good they see in the world and how to help it grow. On Christmas Eve, we had guests from around the world, who were all excited to sit at one of our big, round tables for an impromptu conversation. Guests from Yorkshire, England, Seoul, Korea, Dusseldorf, Germany, and Alberta, Canada met and shared their stories- one woman from Atlanta, Georgia was surprised that she was the only

American in the café! She never would have known if we hadn’t introduced the guests to each other to talk.

On Christmas Day, we celebrated with friends and family from the Haight St community. Staff, and the few guests who came in, enjoyed a delicious home cooked traditional pork and sauerkraut meal made by the our night duty host Donna, and prayers from Dolma, our beloved neighbor and owner of the Tibet Store a few doors down the street.

New Years also brought the love to the Red Vic. Our Bed & Breakfast was completely booked full the night of New Years Eve, in part because of the Furthur concert that was in town that night. With all the Grateful Dead fans staying in the hotel, the history and culture of the sixties was even more present than usual in our Peace Center.

Many of the guests were also peace builders. One young woman has started the first chapter of the National Organization of Women at her college, and she’s only a freshmen! Another woman has been teaching middle school math to underserved students in Georgia for thirty years- and also found the time to run 50 marathons, one in each state!

We made sure to bestow upon her a peace poster, which the founder Sami Sunchild loves to give as gifts of acknowledgement and appreciation.

The poster is here:

https://www.redvic.com/secure/peacearts-scripts/harmony.html

We’re always so inspired by the people we meet here, and pleased that, with our focus on conversation, we know them as more than just customers.

We wish all of our peace community out there a blessed 2012! Make this the year that you give all your heart to making a better world in whatever way you feel most passionately.

Yael Chanoff, Red Vic Host and Tour Guide

A Healing Conversation

Sometimes you learn about a concept that’s totally new to you, and then all of a sudden you run into it everywhere. My past week at the Red Vic has been that way with perspectives on healing.
First, I met a woman who was in San Francisco for a training on massages in hospice settings. She told me about how healing touch can calm and comfort elderly folks and people with diseases like Alzheimers in a way that even high doses of often expensive medication sometimes can’t. We discussed how it was emotionally taxing work. With some patients, she said,  “their relatives miss the person they used to know. They try to force them to remember, which can be difficult. They’re in a different world, and sometimes they don’t want to remember.” With a faint smile, she added, “I try to accept that world. It can be a beautiful thing.”
I quickly realized that this week began “Interview Season” at UCSF Medical Center. At least five aspiring residents have stayed at the Bed and Breakfast this past week, and all of them had interesting stories to tell. One man, who is hoping to be a surgeon, had just returned from living in Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana, working in a hospital there.
But where the energy of healing really came together was at Sunday morning’s Peaceful World Conversation.
One of the conversation participants is a psychotherapist who bears every day the burden of caring for his multiple clients. Another, a care provider who has been intimately involved with helping the healing process of one individual with brain damage for several years. Another young man who had been silent most of the conversation confided that he had been in a caretaking role for his mother for several years, a role that was difficult as “she’s simply not herself anymore.”
Laurie Marshall, our Peace Coordinator here, reminded us that death must be accepted because it is, eventually, inevitable. That it is impossible to avoid, that it is the one natural thing we can all count on happening to us, make it in some ways beautiful. In some ways, the experience brings us together- it’s a strong common thread.    
As Laurie says, “caretakers and healers are a part of the Peace Movement. We’re creating a culture of care, instead of our culture of fear.”  All these people who came through the Red Vic this week are part of a momentum to build a loving, just and peaceful world.

Last Week's Conversation

I’ve been working at the Red Victorian for about a month now, and I’m consistently inspired by the conversations that take place here. Every day is a good day for Peaceful World Conversation at the Red Vic, but our official conversations are Sunday morning at 9am. Every Sunday morning, it’s a mystery: will people come today?  And yet by 9:05 I always find myself sitting at the big round table in the front of the café with at least seven people. No one is committed or required to come- but the magic of the conversations pull people in week after week, month after month, year after year. We’ve been having these conversations for 30 years now.

Sami Sunchild leads the conversations, and every week there is a slightly different topic or approach. What every week’s conversation has in common is that people get to know each other in unexpected ways. Sami has a knack for creating a space where everyone feels comfortable speaking openly about their visions for the world, what they are doing in their lives, and how they hope to connect their passions with their vision.

People from around the world find similarities in their work. A few weeks ago, elementary school teachers from New Zealand, North Carolina, and Napa County were present, and they all exchanged ideas about fostering community and teaching peace in the classroom. I saw two young men travelling for the first time, looking for something different outside of their small town in Missouri, connect with seasoned travelers and get that much closer to finding the people working on creating the world they wanted to see.

Last week, a woman named Kathy, one of the many guests at the Bed and Breakfast who is associated with a patient receiving care at the nearby UCSF Medical Center, was a part of the conversation. Kathy told a story of great tragedy, spanning the past few years in her life, from her husband’s sudden death to her step-father and father’s death. Her life took a 180 degree turn as she left her career of several decades as a nurse for Connecticut Poison Control Center to care for her family members. She was in San Francisco with her aunt, who had just been diagnosed with cancer and giving six months to live, a patient at UCSF.

Like many guests who come through, Kathy found that the community conversation was a much needed supportive space, outlet, and oasis from the difficulties of day-to-day life.

Kathy told us that she had bought one of Sami’s posters- Choosing- for her Aunt’s room, and that it had been significant for her. She said the nurses liked it as well, so she bought a second one for their office.

Here’s the choosing poster.

The mission of the Peaceful World Foundation is:

"To promote all kinds of peace in the world by giving my art to awaken and to fuel the personal responsibilities of those whose lives I touch."

We encourage everyone to host their own peaceful world conversations, anywhere in the world they might be! You can find information on how to do that here and here. 

Share your projects for the Summer of Peace, 2012 to create the Summer of Solutions

Please let us know what you're doing for the Summer of Peace, so we can spread the word and support each other.  

Exciting Events at the Red Vic

Tuesday Nights from 6:00 - 7:30  pm
Summer of Peace, 2012 Brainstorming
Join us for Dinner


Friday, September 27th, 2012  7:00 - 9:00 pm 
Improvising Peace with Hallie McLongue


Sundays at 9:00 am
Peaceful World Conversations with Sami Sunchild

Another Wonderful Conversation! 1.31.2011

Sami was joined at the table by six individuals and four of them are teachers! Sunday after Sunday it is amazing how often backgrounds intertwine amongst our guests. One, from Berlin had started by saying “From my experience being a teacher.” Then a lady from Pacifica, CA followed by saying: “I am also a teacher, and…” And then a third said: “Believe it or not I am a teacher as well!” Then the fourth had to admit that she’s in the club too. The smiles around the table over the common grounds surfacing were a pleasant beginning to the Peaceful World Conversation.

Sami introduced the topic: What projects or events have any of your worked on, put your heart into, believed in, and either succeeded or had it stripped away from you in failure?

Sami spoke over a recent event she planned and planned for and felt that it did not conclude successfully. She works all day, 7 days a week because her work is her life and continuing her legacy to work for a better world is her dream. Failure may occur but she has always overcome and never has missed a Sunday conversation to further peace among strangers of different cultures and beliefs.

The teachers around the table chimed in with their optimism from experience. They see so many students come and go and it can be unclear to them what impact, if any, they had upon them. One was in New York and she got lunch with one of her past students to catch up. She was unsure of the student’s perception of her class and how much he got out of it compared to others. To her surprise, he commended her for preparing him for college very effectively. It made her day. But until then she may not have known.

Sometimes we work so hard for results we lose touch with our patience to see them. But if we put our heart into it, we listen, and we communicate, the work will pay off sometime down the line. We may never receive recognition for our dedication to offer support for those around us, but if you believe in what you’re doing and you put others ahead of your individual needs, you are doing your part. Thank you teachers and our other lovely guests around the table.

Come join us for our next conversation this Sunday the 6th at 9am hosted by Sami Sunchild at the Red Victorian Peace Center at 1665 Haight street at Cole.
Peace.

Another Wonderful Conversation! Jan. 16, 2011

What a busy Sunday morning in the Peace Center! The sun came out and the crowds showed up for morning coffee and breakfast.

Sami withstood the fog across the Golden Gate Bridge and arrived to host another memorable Peaceful World Conversation. One couple patiently awaited her at the conversation table. They were planning their trip from Chico, CA around the opportunity to meet her on Sunday. Our third guest was from Colorado and our later arrival was a young gentleman from Daly City, CA.

Sami mentioned to our guests the Peaceful World Foundation is looking for a Manging Co-Director to carry its mission on to its legacy. She would like to see workshops occuring between professionals who have dedicated their lives to their work for peace and those who are inpired to follow their own dreams. There could be a small group seated around a table learning about micro-finance. Another table could bring together folks discussing the importance of dialogue and deliberation. The space would turn into a beehive of activism and exhange.

The couple from Chico had incredibly valuable insight. They introduced to us the Chico Peace and Justice Center. The conversation was already flowing when Sami guided us toward its start. Sami asked each of us what projects we are currently working on to make the world a better place. Lance, the fellow from Chico, began with his. He expressed his recent personal challenge to be vegetarian. Four reasons he gave us: 1. humans'superiority complex over animals 2. ethics of food systems today 3. health concerns 4.energy costs of livestock production. He has been challenged. Lance will go to dinner parties and try and humbly ask for a vegetarian dish. He has missed the taste of meat. However, his passion to improve his livelihood for the sake of himself, animals, and our planet overcomes. Accompanied by Lance, Andrea talked about her work as a therapist for abused women. She is constantly challenged at her work but the success stories she has been graced to be a part of has motivated her that there is hope. Each person has the potential to change no matter their history or perception given to them by society. We can all lend an ear to those who must vent. Our third guest was from Colorado. She has done medical work abroad and has traveled extensively through Southeast Asia. She now works with an outdoor treatment organization. She loves the outdoors and believes natural landscapes can help people self-reflect on their lives and choices. Our guest who arrived later was interested in learning more about Zen meditation. He is more knowledgeable of Zen rather than Western adopted meditation but admitted that their can be many benefits of familiarizing with the latter. His tone was humble and collected. He stuck around later to check out the Peace Center and our Listening Corner. Andy spoke about his idea of creating a permaculture farm abroad and allowing it to serve as a cooperative for the local community. He reflected back to his time working on a farm in Costa Rica and being disenchanted by the troubling relationship between the locals and the North American farm owners.

Sami discussed her current project. She will create a Living Peace Museum that will continue after she leaves. It will be a place of community and of refuge for those seeking self-reflection and inspiration. People will be able to come in from the world; its consumption, its wars, its disease, and destruction of its planet - and feel that they have arrived. Arrived at a place that welcomes them, from any walk of life, any color, any language, and any history, and be home. Tours will be led from the stairs of the Red Victorian and through the imaginitive guestrooms. Guests will reflect through calligraphic art and the creative interior design of Sami Sunchild. They will learn of the history of the building and its reflection on the historical influence of Haight Ashbury. This is her dream. And if you know Sami Sunchild, pursuing her dreams is her life's work.

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