JOIN US IN CREATING ‘MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE;’ AND ASKING #WHATIF

WE KNOW THE TIME OF BUSINESS IS OVER, THAT WE MUST TRANSFORM THE

PRESENT IN ORDER TO CREATE A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

If we are to make the changes the climate emergency demands of us, the next 10-15 years will be a time of social, cultural, economic and political transformation almost without precedent. It will be a time when our imagination needs to be invited, valued and empowered. A time that future generations will sing great songs, and tell great tales about. A challenging yet amazing time to be alive!

What will help us build something so necessary and so remarkable will be our ability to tell rich and compelling stories of how the future could look, feel, taste, and sound. Stories that create a deep longing for a future very different from the present.

A future of clean air, children playing in the street, cities with food growing everywhere, more birdsong and wildlife, thriving local economies, homes and businesses powered by renewable energy, imaginative and playful architecture, and rewilded landscapes.

An age of connection, collaboration and community, with a sense of collective purpose. A more resilient, more diverse, more equal, more caring, fair world with zero emissions.

It will be a time of creativity, dreaming, and sharing. A space to explore our longings for what we want the future to be. Connecting us to each other and to a future worth fighting for.

WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US DURING 17-24 OCTOBER

Gather your community group, faith group, street, school, or organisation and spend time together generating ‘memories of the future’.

What this will look like is up to you, and you can find out more and download a resource guide here – https://transitionnetwork.org/popuptomorrow/

Global Love Day

The Vision

We honor each May 1st as a symbolic day of unconditional love and call upon all people and all nations to gather together in the wisdom of peace and love.

Global Love Day is the universal recognition of our innate oneness through love. It is our vision to unite one and all in a celebration of love and compassion. Join people around the world in celebrating and expanding LOVE.

We are one humanity on this planet.
All life is interconnected and interdependent.
All share in the Universal bond of love.
Love begins with self acceptance and forgiveness.
With respect and compassion we embrace diversity.
Together we make a difference through love.

When we come from this limitless love we naturally and easily embrace ourselves and our fellow humanity. Opening our heart, we allow unconditional love to be our guide and compassion to be our gift to life.

We invite you to celebrate with us by consciously focusing on love and what it means to you throughout this day. We hope that by practicing love in all areas of your life, you will find it easy to love unconditionally all year long. Our main themes explain it best…”Love Begins With Me” and ‘Celebrating Our Humanity.”

Be a part of it. Spread the word. Share your love.

Think: Global Love Day;

Feel: Love Begins With Me;

Remember: May 1st

We Celebrate our Humanity

As we continue to connect with people and organizations around the world, we are amazed at how much is being done in efforts to positively assist humanity. There are so many wonderful people and associations that are actively working on behalf of a community, nation and even in global proportions.

As we often remind ourselves, what is presented by mainstream information sources is frequently a narrow and negative perspective of what is happening upon this planet right now. To the contrary, we see and know that good and right is occurring everywhere. Look for love and you will see it all around you.

This simple reminder changes the very nature of our experience. We are what we place our attention upon. When we allow love to be our focus of life, we expand this in our everyday activities. It is as simple as changing each perspective and allowing the negative and limiting views to be released and replaced by a higher, more loving understanding.

We appreciate and are grateful for the courage each of you express. In a world that has historically revered the negative and fear-based aspects, it takes strength to be and share love. It is time for love to become our common vision.

Please join us. Be a part of this global day by choosing love, compassion, peace, and unity. Share this information with your friends, relatives and coworkers. Love locally and spread it globally.

Participate

Our first Global Love Day was presented on May 1, 2004. A variety of celebrations and events were held by individuals and groups around the world that initial year and the day was recognized with over a dozen proclamations from prominent Governors, Mayors and Councils. Since then we have continuously expanded each year to include many more communities and nations and now have over 580 proclamations honoring the day with thousands participating individually and at events. We are into our second decade of sharing love and celebrating our humanity – will you join us?

We have a special section dedicated to Global Love Day here on our site filled with ideas of how you can get involved and host your own local event on May 1st. Follow the dropdown tab above and find some suggestions of how you can participate and also find examples of what other creative events have been held before. You can find our Global Love Day social site pages too.

Our annual Art, Essay and Poetry Invitational is held in conjunction with Global Love Day each year and encourages anyone young at heart to submit their art, essay or poetry based on the tenents and vision and theme of the day. See our Guidelines for more information on this special related program.

The Global Love Day Flyers have been translated in over 37 languages so far and all are available to download and print right from your desktop.

The Initial Vision

(An open letter from Founder Harold Becker in 2004)
The Love Foundation is delighted to announce the first annual GLOBAL LOVE DAY on May 1, 2004 with this year’s theme of Love Begins With Me. Join people from around the world as we acknowledge, celebrate and share the love we have within. This is a special day of recalling that love is the link that binds us all. It is also the awesome power that heals and transforms everything it contacts.

Each of us is a potent force of love when we allow this energy to express itself. There is nothing we have to ultimately do, rather we need only allow ourselves to feel and be love. It is that simple. Global Love Day is merely our way of saying let’s remember love is ours to be and to share every moment of our lives.

We understand this day is a symbol of what we can do every day of the year. Our intent is to join together in a conscious recognition that love is always present. For so many, love is often hidden under layers of hurt, trauma, drama, pain and suffering. Emotional memories, unspoken doubt, fear, resentment and a multitude of old beliefs often keep us from realizing these thoughts and feelings have no real power over us. We give them power by living in the past and being afraid of the future. We ignore the love that is present every moment while embracing limitation. It is time to change that. It is time to release ourselves from our own self created bondage.

You and I have the opportunity to make a difference. Together we can embrace our unlimited self, the part of us that knows love and expresses it naturally and simply. It is when we accept ourselves just for who we are that we transform the moment into peace, security, joy and love. This process begins with releasing our limiting beliefs, past mistakes, lack of self worth, pride and ego through the conscious act of forgiveness. It is up to us as individuals to undertake this journey. We begin the transformation when we turn within and accept our self. We change the world when we change our perspective.

As we come to know who we are and why we act and react the way we do, we start to see ourselves in the faces of humanity. The reflection of hurt is our hurt, their pain is our pain, another’s anger is our anger. It is also seen in the face of nature. Her destruction is our destruction. These seemingly random expressions are our past thoughts seeking manifestation. It is our constant reminder that love is the answer. We build a new reality in this current moment when we let go. When we choose love over fear, kindness over hate, integration over separation, and peace over war, we bring a new reflection to humanity… our loving selves.

So, please accept our invitation to love. Join us hand-in-hand as we share our love on this planet once again.

Love, light, and peace,
Harold W. Becker
Founder/President

Founder’s Address 2019

Welcome Dear Friends to Global Love Day 2019,

We join our hearts this day in celebration of life itself. Coming together around the globe, we unify our highest intention and collective potential, igniting the creative spark that lights our shared journey forward on this precious planet we call home. Realizing our magnificence as loving beings, each of us holds the key to our brightest futures. Compassion, kindness, joy and peace are our natural expressions when we recognize that love begins with me.

As one humanity on this planet, we have a common heritage and universal destiny. With each unfolding moment, we are comprehending the grandness of our personal and combined opportunities to evoke our heart-felt wisdom. It is a simple knowing that all life is interconnected and interdependent and our gift to the world is appreciating one another with grace and dignity.

We all share in the Universal bond of love and, from this essential understanding, we build fresh, new realities that infuse the very best of who we are. In this way, we consciously manifest for the greatest benefit of all. We begin with self-acceptance and forgiveness as the cornerstone to a foundation built solidly on love. This ensures we inspire, nurture, cultivate and express our dreams of a better world for our children and the earth herself.

There are infinite possibilities before us to explore as we walk in harmony with everyone and everything around us. It is with respect and compassion that we embrace diversity. We learn and grow through our countless interactions and expand far beyond the sum of our parts when we allow ourselves to evolve beyond our present perspectives. The majesty of life reveals itself within and about us when we open our hearts. Together we truly do make a difference through love.

With happiness, delight and love, I welcome you to our sixteenth Global Love Day celebration.

Love, light and peace,
Harold W. Becker
Founder and President
The Love Foundation

Founder’s Address Previous Years Archive

The Ribbon 2020 – Tangible Hope for No Nuclear War

The Ribbon was founded by Justine Merritt who had visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in 1982. She was greatly affected by the tragedy caused by the Atomic Bomb. After arriving home, it came to her to create a Ribbon, and decided to have a Ribbon event on the 40^th memorial anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It was in the middle of the Cold War between The United States and The Soviet Union, and using nuclear weapons could happen again at a moments notice.

On August 4, 1985, in Washington, D.C., fifteen miles of Ribbons encircled the Pentagon and other important monuments: With the message of “What I cannot bear to think of as lost forever in a nuclear war”. The Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima was also encircled.

The Ribbon International is now a Non Governmental Organization in Association with the United Nations. Since 1985, many Ribbons have been created around the world. People carry Ribbons and pray for Peace at many occasions such as; community memorial gatherings and marches related to nuclear, peace and environmental issues. Ribbons have been exhibited in various places as well.

Nowadays the world is closer to the tragedy of nuclear war or a nuclear accident more than ever before.

On August 1^st 2020, the 75^th Anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The Ribbon International is planning to have a Ribbon event in New York City and in other cities around the world. Please join us, and pray for a world without nuclear weapons and never another nuclear tragedy. (If you cannot join, please pray with us wherever you are.)

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How to make Ribbon
(Please also see our website: www.theribboninternational.org)

• Cut a panel of sturdy cloth, double thickness, of any color.
• Finished size: one meter by a half meter (or one yard by a half yard)
• Sew 20cm (9 inch) pieces of ribbon to each corner so the panels may be easily tied together.
• On this panel, sew, paint, write, embroider, weave, knit, tie-dye or use any other kind of ornaments to express what you most love about the world and want to protect from what is endangered on this earth.
• If you wish, write your name and/or any message on the back of the panel.

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BECOME A LOCAL CONTACT FOR THE RIBBON IN YOUR COMMUNITY – organizations, schools, places of worship, individuals, artists, teachers and many others have adopted the Ribbon project for such celebrated days as Earth Day, World Peace Week and United Nations/Global Citizenship Day to promote local awareness and action. Create Ribbons to display at local events, advertise in newspapers, organization newsletters, on radio and TV.

To help support the Ribbon project and keep it growing around the world please send tax exempt donations made out to – Peace Action Education Fund, 40 Witherspoon St., Princeton, NJ 08542, USA and direct it for The Ribbon International.

We invite you to join the Ribbon project, there is no fee. Just create and display a Ribbon, you have then symbolically joined with others world wide in creating and thinking in terms of care and protection of the earth and its inhabitants.

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Pieces to Peace,

Some Events in the Life of the Ribbon

1982: Justine Merritt is inspired to tie a Ribbon around the Pentagon in Washington, DC, USA from the theme; “What I cannot bear to think of as lost forever in a nuclear war”, and writes about it to friends on her holiday card list.

1985: August 4th: Over ten miles of Ribbons encircle the Pentagon and other Washington, DC buildings. The Atom Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, Japan is also

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1986: In New Zealand, Ribbons connect US and USSR embassies. In South Africa, Black and White mothers unite using Ribbons to tell their government they don’t want their children killing each other. In Japan, Ribbons are used to protest the razing of Ikego Forest. 10,000 Ribbons link B’hai temple to the ocean in Austrailia and USSR World Leader Mikhail Gorbachev is presented a Ribbon by Justine Merritt.

1987: In Okinaw, Japan, Ribbons help surround the largest military base in the Pacific and are displayed in Zushi for the environment at Ikego Forest. In Holland, panels connect the US and USSR embassies. Tamel, Sinhalese and Christian segments are exhibited together in Sri Lanka.

1988-1989: In the Middle East, the Interns for Peace calendar shows Ribbons made by Arab and Jewish children.

1990: In London, Ribbons are exhibited in the Houses of Parliament. In Geneva, Ribbons are displayed in the Palais des Nations during the NTP Conference.

1991: In New York, Ribbons are exhibited at the United Nations during the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Conference. Included are panels created by Iraqi and American children. New York State Museum in Albany has an International Ribbon exhibit.

1992: Ribbons are displayed in Brazil and around the planet during the UN “Earth Summit.”

1993: Ribbons are displayed at the Human Rights Conference in Vienna, inspire an environmental Ribbon contest in Singapore and is cosponsor of the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago.

1994: The Canadian Ecumenical Council Calendar features Ribbon segments as part of UN related art. Gas City and Marion Indiana create and exhibit Ribbons in preparation for the UN 50th anniversary.

1995: Ribbon displays celebrate the UN 50th anniversary Year. With the help of divers, Ribbons are carried under water and connect Egypt, Israel and Jordon. Segments are contributed by Switzerland, Germany, Italy and China.

1996: International Mothers of Liberia use Ribbons to help protest the stealing of children for the army. Towns in the Ukraine create panels calling for a world without wars or violence. Ribbons are given to all the UN Missions. Mayors for Peace through Inter-city Solidarity learn of the Ribbon.

1997: Estonia uses Ribbons to celebrate peace. Ribbons are taken to Haiti to promote a culture of peace. In Magdeburg, Germany, the Mayor inspires the city’s population to create and display panels for Human Rights Day and other occasions. The Bonadssamlingen Museum in Stenstorp, Sweden exhibits Ribbons.

1998: Ribbons are displayed at the UNESCO Culture and Developement conference in Stockholm, Sweden. *1998 is the UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL YEAR of the OCEANS. Show on your Ribbon the beauty of our never ending oceans.

1999: Ribbon panels are displayed for Human Rights Day in Copenhagen, made in China, are exhibitied at the Hague Appeal for Peace (HAP99) in the Netherlands and created for the International Year of Older Persons.

2000 – 2006: Ribbons are given to all U.S. Congressmen for the UN Culture of Peace Year. Lake Havasu City, AZ, USA creates and display Ribbons for UN Day. Africans and Cubans receive Ribbons for peace. A Ribbon is given to Pope John Paul II in Rome in honor of the Decade for a COP and Non Violence for the Children of the World. 9/11 annually Ribbons are carried from the UN to the World Trade Center, NY with an Interfaith litany read.

2001 – 2010: The United Nations International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World. Show on your panel a “Culture of Peace.” Church Women United (CWU) initiates the Ribbon as part of their celebrated days of prayers for peace such as World Community Day.

Founder Justine Merritt and Michele Peppers present Ribbon panel to Pope John Paul II, in honor of the United Nations resolution for the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non Violence for the Childrend for the World (2001-2010), October 17, 2001