In LOVE with Humanity

Hero #102: Peace Artist
Peace Artist (born Neal Yasami) is an American artist, gymnastics coach, musician,
humanitarian, and peace activist. After years of seeking meaning in his own life – after
years of wondering what it was that he could do to make the world a more peaceful place,
Peace (as he is often called) decided to give up almost everything he owned and set forth to
run -- and paint -- across the United States. And that is what he did -- from August of 2011
through July of 2012 he ran over 6000 miles; from the Olympic Peninsula in Washington
State through Oregon and down the entire coast of California, across Texas and Arizona and
New Mexico, through Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama – and finally ending up in
Savannah, Georgia … He did so alone, he did so without money, he did so pushing his few
remaining possessions (mostly art supplies) in a stroller, and he did so for Peace.
He ran when it was time to run, he paused when it was time to pause (engaging hundreds
of communities with a multitude of small-yet-selfless acts of service), and he painted when it was
time to paint (creating and giving away almost 500 paintings and sketches along the way) … He
bravely set forth into the unknown to make this world a better place – spreading the allimportant
message of humility and courage and service and kindness; for lack of a better
term, spreading the message of Love. And make this world a better place he certainly did.
His journey helped ease the burdens of the thousands of people he encountered along the
way, and via the Internet* continues to inspire many thousands more to live more Caring &
Peace-filled lives themselves.
―‘Why are you doing this?‘ is the
most common question I‘m asked.
I‘ve had lots of answers to that
question. The real reason I did this
is that I couldn‘t think of anything
else that made as much sense. I
tried to think of the biggest thing
that I could do for peace, and this
was it. I couldn‘t sit back and do
nothing … If I continued to do
nothing to stop the wars of the
world, the senseless killing and
hurting of children, I felt as if I was
complicit in the act. I might as well
be pulling the trigger.‖
~ Peace Artist
118