World Peace Day falls on November 17 of every year. If you’re wondering what it is and why you haven’t heard of it, rest assured. You’re not alone. World Peace Day isn’t the same as International Peace Day, which is celebrated in September. International Peace Day is a global event that the United Nations sponsors. Its goal is to bring communities together to talk about world peace and problems associated with it.

World Peace Day exists thanks to the tireless grassroots efforts of one man – Don Morris, who is also known as the “Peaceguy.” Morris launched World Peace Day in 1997, hoping to get people everywhere to make a personal commitment to work for peace. His idea involved a campaign to spread awareness about his cause, and to encourage people to drive with their headlights on November 17. He assumed that the more people who drove with their headlights on, the more people would take the hint from that and go through the day while driving with their headlights on, too.

That wasn’t the extent of his vision. He wanted people to take personal responsibility for their commitment. He wanted them to look into their hearts to see instances in the past, or even now, where they had behaved in ways that might have been aggressive, hurtful, mean, thoughtless or judgmental. Think about what you can do now to make amends for those wrongs. This is also a good way to teach kids about the importance of having alternatives to violence for dealing with conflict.

We want to encourage our customers to reach out to people you’ve judged harshly. Reach out to people you may have hurt by saying things in haste without thinking about the impact your words would have on someone else’s feelings or their life.

We believe that there are no better peace offerings than plants or flowers. But we also believe that some plant and flower varieties are connected with different sentiments — like peace. One plant seems to belong to the theme of World Peace Day. That plant is the Peace Lily. The lush green foliage is a stark contrast to the long spikes from which white spathes emerge. The spathes function as a protective shield for the flower.

Give the Peace lily to someone as a gift, or display it in your office or workplace. Place peace lilies in public places like libraries, courthouses, churches, police offices and municipal offices or headquarters.

Julia’s Florist wants to help our Wilmington area customers use World Peace Day as a way to spread awareness about the global problem of violence, and to make a commitment to do your part in trying to prevent it.