TL;DR? Scroll down, bithazz. <3

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Peace:

~We live in a world that is so full of war, of hate, of violence against our fellow men for reasons varying from greed and advancement of selfish notions to a person wearing the wrong color bandana or dressing in a way that someone doesnt like. We hear on the news everyday of more and more violent crimes, both against the innocent and against fellow violent criminals. In a world such as this, sometimes its hard to imagine what peace is like, when every day you turn on the television to hear about the latest car bombing in Iraq, but if we lose sight of our dreams of peace, we lose all hope that someday all this senseless violence will come to an end and that people will learn to choose their battles, and to fight those battles with words and images, with symbols and demonstrations and with an honest effort toward change, rather than fighting them with guns, knives, tanks and bombs. Because it is true, violence can be used for good. But it is also even more true that on the path mankind now takes, we are headed for extinction. So we must strive now for peace and for an end to the madness, before it consumes us.


Love:

~There doesnt seem to be enough of it in the world today. We learn as children reading fairy stories and watching disney movies that love is such a powerful driving force, something that rules over all of us. Many people actively seek for love and the feelings of peace and elation it brings. But as we grow up, we are introduced to a new world, one in which cruelty is currency. We get to the age of middle school, and suddenly the dreamers and romantics become the outcasts, and we need to start dressing, talking, and acting a certian way in order to become accepted. For those that do, things will never be the same. For those that dont, our days with our peers become our own personal hell. We are taught by rejection to keep our love hidden, we are taught by the cool crowd that its not very hip to say "i love you". And some people never really grow out of that, even moreso for men than for women, who feel that to say so ruins their image. I have been to several raves now, and in that place, with the freedom of expression and the pounding of the music, I felt connected to everyone in that building. No matter that you are someone I may never talk to or who would mock me on the street, that open environment allowed me to open my heart and learn to love everyone, whether or not I am anything like them, but simply because they are a fellow human being sharing this world with me.

Unity:

~ "All things are related, you see we're all intertwined." We are all, each of us different. No one else in this world is our like, for we are all an accumulation of our own life experiences. Black, White, Gay, Straight, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Wiccan, Scientologist, furry, raver, geek, goth, emo, prep, jock, rich, poor, homeowner, homeless, shopkeeper, banker, artist. We slap all kinds of labels on ourselves, labeling ourselves as different, taking pride in those differences but ignoring the similarities: Human, mother, daughter, father, son, sister, friend, grandfather, grandmother, earthling, thinking, feeling, growing, sharing, keeping giving taking loving. We all share this earth. We all share her problems. We are citizens of the world, and despite our difference, we are all a part of one another. What effects one of us may just have an impact on us all. And it is in this spirit of unity that we can come to appreciate the diversity of this world. All we need is to start looking for some common ground.

Respect:

~Few people in the greater scheme of things really have it. Many people seem to think that you need to earn it. Few of us in this day and age choose to give of it freely. You respect those in authority, you respect the opinions you hear spoken on your television screen, you respect men of politics, men of faith, people just like you and me placed up on pedastels and given the ability to govern your life. Do you ever once question if these people are deserving of your respect? I daresay that some do, but I daresay a great deal do not. Would you give this same respect to a struggling artist? To a homeless man sitting on the street with a cup in his hand? My friends, I say to you, I stopped, talked to that man and gave him a dollar, and I met one of the most intelligent and spiritual people I have ever known, and will be going back to that street to meet him again and speak with him and learn of his concept of god. Respect should be freely given, he who looks at another man and thinks "You must earn my respect" is raising himself up on a pedastal too high for any man, to consider yourself above all others until proven to you. What do they have to prove? Before you go demmanding respect before giving it out yourself, ask yourself... what do you have to prove?

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A set of bracelets I made last night, each with coloring and style respective of the idea the word represents. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, generally used by ravers, here is a definition courtesy of urban dictionary:

1. plur 582 up, 47 down love it hate it

n. The lifestyle concept of Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect. Originated in a speech by NYC DJ Frankie Bones early in the history of raves, it's undefined dogma of comraderie for all humanity has been adopted by many ravers as an attempted lifestyle.

We as a community need to observe PLUR in our everyday lives; the reason we love the people around us is because we all love the music, and so we should try to reach beyond that and embrace our fellow man.