One of my best friends recently told me that, as a kid, she dreamed of becoming President one day and creating world peace by becoming friends with every single person in the world.  That reminded me of how, when I was in first grade, I won a National Coloring Contest that was sponsored by Crayola, in which they asked children to draw their vision of the future.  My vision of the future?  The Land of Love.  Imagine heart-shaped flowers, heart-shaped trees, heart-shaped butterflies, a heart-shaped sun….I think you get the picture.  I was definitely not a Rembrandt, so I know it wasn’t my artistic ability that allowed me to claim the grand prize—a red crayon that was taller than me.  Clearly, the idea of a such a loving and peaceful future struck a chord with the judges.  After all, wouldn’t we all like to live in a land filled only with love?  The truth is that we can, but it’s up to us to build that reality.

Imagine the kind of world we could create if we could so lovingly craft it with the finger paints and idealism of our younger selves.  Imagine if we treated everyone we met as a best friend.  Imagine if we fed the hungry, sheltered the poor, healed the sick, and gave hope to those in need.   Imagine if we looked for ways to unite, rather than divide ourselves.  Imagine if we filled our world with so much love – love for each other, love for our planet, love for ourselves – that all of the hate and the fear and the doubt disappeared. 

Today, I still share my six year-old self’s vision for the future – only, now, instead of imagining heart-shaped flowers and trees, I envision a world in which love is the currency, a world in which people choose love over fear and peace over hatred.  That world is possible, if we work together to  make love a priority.  We do that each time we volunteer our time and services, each time we speak out against injustice, each time we put the needs of someone else above our own, each time we choose to walk away from conflict and seek the peaceful solution instead.  By choosing love, we are, in effect, choosing to create a Land of Love – one thought, one action at a time.

So, tell me, Yippies, what kind of world did you imagine as a child?  And how can we work together to bring those dreams to life today?