Applying

I was at a party the other night and a friend asked me when I started the process to apply for the fellowship on peace and conflict studies. I told him last January. He then asked, isn't that when you were diagnosed with Lupus? I laughed, I said "you picked right up on that". This peace program (more info on the program under the post "What is a Peace Trip") meant more to me then just going to Bangkok. The application process really gave me focus last winter when I was going through some difficult realizations about my life and health (see earlier posts about 2009 and Lupus)

I had planned to apply for this program long before I got sick and when I did get sick, I focused on it even more. It gave me an inner peace to continue my life the way I saw fit regardless of having an incurable disease. It gave me something to look forward to and the application process itself gave me a peaceful focus. In some ways it was my own type of meditation and I looked inward to my future and my life dreams and goals.

So yes, I did start this application process last January and found out I was accepted just two months ago. I am often asked why the process took so long; it is because the program is very competitive on a WORLD basis. My process started with contact to the local Rotary club and then the Rotary District. Then my challenge was to write a three page narrative explaining not only why my profession deals with conflict but also I had to explain what my profession is! Most people do not know what Planners do. Writing the narrative really helped me determine within myself why I wanted to study Peace and Conflict Resolution. Then there was a Club interview and a District interview and then the application went to Rotary Foundation. They pick the 25 people who will participate.

The entire process really gave me some much needed internal peace. Even if I had not received the fellowship, I would have been thankful for the opportunity to have applied as it helped me focus on the future. So for me, it is not just an experience to study peace, but to also find my own inner peace.