I wanted to explain a little about citizen science and how, for me, it has been a long-term goal and an artistic interest in self-worth—registering self-worth, feeling self-worth—and how citizen science has changed my perception of interacting and engaging with what the world has to offer.

There is a great paper that outlines the future possibilities and basics of citizen science by Medani Bhandari, 2024. This approach describes how an everyday person's interest in something like identifying plants in their area, using an app called iNaturalist, is a great expression of citizen science. Everyday people with varied levels of experience and knowledge help identify things correctly by engaging with pictures others have taken of plants in the area.

If you take this concept and expand it to other applications, it moves beyond just documenting and identifying to something deeper—almost like seeing the spirit, the person, the entity that is experiencing and feeling things firsthand. That is how I think of the definition of self in a more spiritual context.

That level of firsthand experience fascinates me when considering the situation we are in as a society. Perhaps our solutions and movements can come from everyday people feeling like their value is mirrored back to them by one another. I would love for Body Peace to be a place where that happens. Even if just the message and the seed are planted, I am happy.

The practice of reflecting on your direct experiences through a lens that asks you to consider something specific—what your experiences are in a certain realm, what you would say, what you would create, what stands out—can be powerful. Giving ourselves space to do that, with the freedom for it to be imperfect, has been incredibly surprising in my own experience.

Bhandari’s 2024 article explores how this level of engagement and care from everyday people—not just from a greater entity like an organization—can lead to those people valuing themselves, recognizing their power, their gifts, and the genuine value in all of their experiences. When we put that into action, I have a few ideas that could be supported through Body Peace, through collaborators, and through our shared creations and reflections. This is a key feature of Body Peace Circles, which I will link an explanation to as well.

In a Body Peace Circle, we reflect on something specific, always within the expansive realm of what Body Peace covers. We examine exploitative patterns and systems within ourselves and in the world around us. We also look to nature—what nature does, how it finds a way to feed everyone, recycle everything, and exist in a state of active, positive peace. Body Peace considers both that peace and its opposite, while positioning our bodies and spirits as immovable parts of the Earth. If you look at the Earth from space and see its curve, there is no separation. The idea of separation is just programming that confuses us, which is why we seek to explore specific topics that widen our scope.

I may be getting a bit off track, but the focus remains on valuing our experiences and turning them into something together. When we share what we have created, even if we feel a little uncomfortable doing so, we can channel that discomfort into action. Through this process, we may emerge with a plan or an idea—something we can rally around or put energy behind.

Sincerely,

Loving Awareness of Feelings and Thoughts