I remember the first day my Global Politics class started the Peace & Conflict Unit. My instructor asked us to write in a few words what peace meant to us. Within minutes, most of my classmates had scribbled on paper what peace meant to them. Some people wrote that peace is the absence of war; others wrote it's harmony and political stability. I sat, staring at the blank sheet of paper. I couldn't write down a single word. Not because I didn't know what to say, but because a sheet of paper or few words couldn't define what peace meant to me.
I realized how much there was to consider the more I thought of it. Peace to me isn't only about the absence of war or political stability. Despite hardships, it's also about having hopes and dreams I know I can achieve. It's waking up in a country where I can feel secure and cared for physically and mentally. Peace to me is responding with a strong yes when someone asks me if things will ever get better in Liberia. Not to say it only out of patriotism and hope but because I know it will.
My definition of peace is waking up to the news of economic and political freedoms from the western world in different African countries. Not reading about discrimination, exploitation, and another tragedy happening somewhere in the world. If someone asked me now what my definition of peace is, I wouldn't know how to say that in a few words or sentences because peace does not have a clear meaning; it's whatever I can make of it.
Peace to me is everything and anything. I'm not saying there shouldn't be a "universal definition" of what peace is or some common understanding. Instead, it's my way of saying that peace is not and does not have to be limited to such a definition. The meaning of peace can vary due to your geographical location, economic and social status, or even privileges.
So I ask you now, WHAT DOES PEACE MEAN TO YOU?
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