Inspiring Spiritual and Social Consciousness

I've worked for peace much of my life. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand in the 1960s. In the 1980s, I moved my family to Washington, DC, to work to end the nuclear arms race. As director of the US test ban coalition, I built relationships with Members of Congress based on love and respect. My memoir, Love Changes Things, Even in the World of Politics, recounts the extraordinary impact of this approach.

In 2003, my husband Thom Cronkhite and I moved to the Fiji Islands for five years, then on to Ecuador and Mexico, teaching meditation and peacemaking skills to government leaders and others in each country. While in Fiji, we wrote The Isle of Is: A Guide to Awakening, which found its way to the desk of the Speaker of Parliament. He asked us to lead a workshop for parliament to help avert a coup, but the next day the coup took place! I also created a spiritual, character development program for the Ministry of Youth called “Seeds of Success,” which is taught to thousands of Fijians each year.

Formerly on the faculty of Vanderbilt University and Watkins School of Art&Design, I teach personal essay and other writing courses in community settings. I currently also facilitate a group of activists dedicated to helping improve the functioning of the U.S. government. Together, Thom and I host a weekly meditation group online and a monthly meeting with a spiritual community in Oaxaca, Mexico.

I live in Greensboro, North Carolina, with Thom and our cats, Suki and Shanti. We share our yard with a pair of red-shouldered hawks, over 20 other species of wild birds, and six grey squirrels. I can count over 300 oaks, hickories, and maples from my front and back steps.

Meditation group in Oaxaca, Mexico

Ecuadoran children visit us at home in Cotacachi

About Caroline Cottom

I have a PhD in Educational Policy from Vanderbilt University, a Master's Degree in behavioral science and a BA in English literature. While completing my PhD, I staffed the Metropolitan Nashville Community Education Task Force that involved the state legislature, Mayor's office and city council, Metropolitan school board, and Superintendent of Schools. We created a countywide effort that funded community education centers, health services, adult education, and after-school care at public schools throughout the county.

I served as state coordinator for Common Cause of Tennessee for one year, then moved to Washington, DC, to lead the US Comprehensive Test Ban Coalition of 75 national organizations that worked with Members of Congress to end nuclear test explosions in Nevada and in the Soviet Union. The US conducted their last test in 1992.

Who Am I in This Grand Universe?

Who are we as humans, and what is our place in the universe? Once I knew this--really knew it, not just intellectually understood it--many things fell into place. My years in Fiji helped me to understand that while we humans will continue to experience painful emotions, knowing removes deep fear, doubt, anger, and grief, because we "get it" that, ultimately, all is well. 

The Isle of Is: A Guide to Awakening, written while Thom and I lived in Fiji, speaks directly to this question. Spiritual tools are presented in a light and accessible way, guiding the reader to a place where they are not overwhelmed by their personal problems or the world's problems. In the book, all of nature comes alive and shares its wisdom with us. We hear from Conscious Caterpillar, Buda Bug, a raven called Is-is, and a chorus of waves, among others. "This is Heaven, man," one says. Another tells us, "On the Isle of Is, ye have whatever ye need."

Our place in the universe is also one of the themes in my upcoming poetry collection, Passage to Fiji. Stay tuned for when this work-in-progress will arrive!