San Francisco Heartwalk 2007
Taking Steps for Peace
By Joe Brown

Sep 17 | archive | subscribe

As a workshop facilitator, life coach and international corporate trainer, Joe Weston is good at talking the talk, but what he’s really about is walking the walk.
 
“What have you done for peace lately?”  asks Weston, who is busy encouraging people to get people moving for the eighth annual Heartwalk – a demonstration that’s not “anti”-anything. At 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 22, hundreds of Bay Area residents from all walks of life will gather at Justin Herman Plaza to participate in a meditative trek through the sidewalks of San Francisco – following a 3.5-mile route shaped like a heart. There is no fee required, and participants are not asked to raise money. People of all backgrounds, faiths and political affiliations are invited to come and celebrate our common goodwill and intentions for a more peaceful world and way of life.

 Heartwalk participants say they have found the event to be a shift from the traditional march or protest. “It’s something I can take my kids and not worry about an angry protest,” says San Francisco architect Trish Callo. “Being involved with anti-war rallies and groups is a great thing, but it is not necessarily for peace,” says Weston. “When you use aggression to fight aggression, you are playing with fire. The Dalai Lama has said: ‘Using violence to stop violence is like using fire to put out a fire.’”
 Weston’s Heartwalker Peace Project, an Oakland-based non-profit, is one of many Bay Area organizations honoring the United Nations International Day of Peace (officially September 21). For more information visit heartwalker.org or call (510) 495-4988.