What I live for

Life is gray to me. I find it harder and harder to see life in black and white terms. Being mostly a gray person, I don't like categories. They draw lines that aren't really there.

Where does that lead me?

Well, I've turned increasingly pessimistic about the world -- I don't mean a loss of hope - not by any means. But the more I study, the more I learn about the world, the more I understand its struggles...the enormity of them, the depth of pain, and the extent of violence that my brothers and sisters experience day-to-day. In so many ways, the world is not improving. We need to realize practical needs, economic improvements, better international relations, practice listening to each other. And it is in all of this that I determine my purpose. I live for peace-making. A type of peace-making that doesn't bring peace by waging war; a type of peace-making that respects cultural differences; a type of peace-making by people who recognize themselves in every single other person on earth.