Monkey Mind

Feb 14, 2026

Happy Saturday friends!

Did you see the Walk for Peace monks arrive in Washington, DC on Wednesday? We changed up our Wednesday Women's Circle just to watch Bhikku Pannakara speak on tv together!

And of course their sweet Aloka was there with them 💜

During his talk, Bhikku Pannakara spoke about the monkey mind which made me remember a digital illustration I did a couple of years ago about just that. This is what my brain feels like a lot:

He describes the monkey mind, "It will jump here and there, go here and there, grab this and that."

How to calm it? Mindfulness that starts with ignoring your phone first thing in the morning. I'm thinking about getting an old fashioned alarm clock and leaving my phone plugged in on the other side of my room at night.

"Every time when you touch your phone, your mind starts wandering," he said. "So don't touch your phone in the morning when you wake up. Instead, make your bed nice and neat. Go to the bathroom, still no phone.

"Next step is to take a pen and a piece of paper and write, "Today is going to be my peaceful day." Writing it down is important, when your hand is pairing with your mind, it makes a big difference."

I couldn't find the transcript for when the monks were at the Washington National Cathedral, which is what we all watched but I did find one for the speech at the Lincoln Memorial, the words were similar:

(Kerstin Zilm did a transcription of the speech by the Venerable Bhikku Pannakara at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, February 11, 2026.)

First of all, I would like to pay respect to the Maha Sangha, which is the monk community. I like to pay gratitude to all the governors and government officials, all the law enforcement officers, Sheriffs, Swat, police, fire department, EMS, all the way from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, DC.

I would also like to thank all the venerable monks and nuns, all pastors, reverends, who opened their hearts and doors to host and support us on our journey. I'm also grateful to all the universities, schools, and families for their kind hospitality. Of course, this Walk of Peace would not have been possible without the organizers, donors, medical teams, and volunteers. Thank you so much. It's been 109 days, and I like to thank all of our supporters, both in person and online. Your support has been a great motivation for us on this walk. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.

Ladies and gentlemen, life moves very fast. Sometimes, just a few seconds are enough for us to hurt someone to say words we regret, or to create more pain in a world that is already exhausted. But those same few seconds, if we live them well, can become the beginning of peace. Today, I do not ask you to think about big ideas. I simply invite you to live five seconds of your life with mindfulness. Five seconds, if lived with mindfulness, can change one person, one family, one community, one nation, and the world.

In the first second, choose loving kindness.

Loving kindness does not need power, money, or a title. It is simply the choice to stop before hurting, to shock them, before speaking to care instead of reacting. If each person takes just one second to ask, Will this hurt anyone? The world would already be kinder.

In the second second choose compassion.

We do not know what pain others carry, what losses they have faced, or how hard they are trying to survive. Compassion does not mean agreement. It means not adding more pain. A compassionate world does not abandon the weak and does not create more suffering.

In the third second, choose love.

Love means children grow up safe. Love means that elders live with dignity. Love means we do not turn away when someone is in pain. To start with truly loving yourself. Start with that love for the person in front of you, whether you know them or not. That is how we create a more loving world.

In the fourth second, choose harmony over winning. Harmony does not mean sameness. It means respect without agreement and coexistence without fear. Peace does not come from victory. Peace comes from the ability to live together.

In the fifth second, choose hope. Hope that people can return to morality. Hope that violence is not the final answer. Hope that the world can soften if we slow down and listen. The Walk for Peace is not a protest, not to convert. It is a reminder that hope still exists when people are willing to care. Hope is a final light that must never go out.

Jan, please raise the flag. If you notice on this flag, we have loving, kindness, compassion, love, harmony, and hope. Those are the five seconds that I just talked about that we carry with us from the beginning until now.

Before we close, let us pause for a moment not to debate, not to argue, but to stand together and offer these shared prayers for humanity with hope. Let us all put our left hand over our heart, the right hand on top of our left hand. Gently. Close our eyes. Take a deep breath. Take another deep breath and a last one, feel each and every heartbeat within your heart. Concentrate on your heartbeat.

And every heartbeat, you now think of all your loved ones within your heart, all the friends, family members, your coworkers, your neighbors, the people you know, and lastly, all beings. You take another deep breath, one last one. Thank you. Thank you.

I have 10 vows that I would love to make this announcement in front of the Maha Sangha and all of us here.

May every nation live in safety, stability, and dignity, free from fear, chaos, and unnecessary suffering.

May every person be heard, respected, and protected, regardless of their race, their background, their faith, and the language that they speak.

May fear be replaced with understanding, and may misunderstanding never again become a reason for violence.

May hatred be transformed into compassion, so pain is met with care instead of blame.

May peace exist, not only in words and speeches, but in laws, policies, communities, and daily life.

May true strength be measured, not by control, force, or weapons, but by how we protect one another, especially our children and the vulnerable.

May progress always walk together with morality, and may growth never be built on human suffering.

May dialogue be chosen over confrontation and listening over judgment in families, societies, and nations.

May people find peace within their own hearts, so that the world no longer needs violence to survive.

May the path to peace require no enemies, only human beings, returning to morality, to responsibility, and to one another.

Last but not least, please remember to write down this statement every day that I already talked about, today is going to be my peaceful day. Let us all repeat this statement together, loud and clear, after I count to 3123. Today is going to be my peaceful day. Louder. Today is going to be my peaceful day. Even louder. Today is going to be my peaceful day.

Imagine if that voice, that energy, that sound, spread all over the universe, from all human beings on this earth, this universe will shower back down with love and kindness and compassion and peace, so that this world will become a better place for all beings to live.

Will you walk together with us for the rest of our lives to create peace? Will you change from here on? Will you practice mindfulness to bring peace to ourselves, our families, and our nation in the world? Yes!

Thank you so much. I thank you for all the love, all the hospitality, all of your support, even in bad conditions, in bad weather, freezing weather, cold rain, you are still walking out there waiting for us on the road, and along the street, wherever we go, you show support and love. Thank you so much, and this moment will live with me for the rest of my life.

Thank you. May you all be well, be happy, and be peaceful.

Thank you so much.

There was something so sweet and familiar about the sound of his voice, the way he spoke English...and then I remembered—the children I grew up with in southern California, many of them were from Vietnam, and the sound of his voice reminded me of them. My first "boyfriend" in 4th grade was named Vinh Nguyen. He gave me this necklace with my name on it (still in my memory box):

THE RANCH:

Mom used to call me on days like this and say, "Oh! You should see the Carolina blue sky today!"

I stood there and watched these two before realizing they were not actually stuck in the ice but just laying on top:

I'm 5'7", my feet are size 10.5-11. With shoes, my foot is almost a foot long. Look how big this oak leaf is!

Also, I'm SO done with Keens. Just a couple of months after I bought these, the leather just disintegrated on the sides. Luckily that white fabric is still keeping the water out.

B-Rad, getting some serious donkey snuggles in:

A few times this week, I took the littles out separately for a walk around the pond to do some clicker training. The rest of the herd was not happy when one of their friends was away, even though I stayed within sight the whole time! Later I came out to find the Duchess of Cashmere as close as she could get to her best friends:

Brad is moving along on the grape arbor redo, all the vines are off the posts, now moving on to taking them all down. Next he will put new posts in and install wire for the grapes to grow on:

We will also be able to double our parking in this area when it's all done!

Caught a fabulous peachy pink sunset while driving back from getting the mail:

My little boys:

My little girl, hanging out with me, eating hay bits while I stuff bags:

ART THIS WEEK:

Last week I created the middle harvest mouse and thought it was too cute, so I decided to paint a couple more and turn it into a fun little trio!

The next session of the Wednesday Women's Circle is starting this coming week and along with meditation, circle time where each woman gets to speak without interruption, tea and cookies, there is time for art. I will be teaching how to do these 3 little paintings for this session. If you'd like to be on the waiting list for the next one that starts April 14th, send me an email.

Other ways to work with me: equine partnered coaching, neurofeedback, 1:1 or group art classes (online or in person), and Reiki. Click here for more info.

Thank you to all who responded to my post last week, I so appreciate you! I'm still getting back to each of you, I haven't forgotten!

THE MEMES:

This was how I felt about the Super Bowl. Snacks and commercials:

Thanks to Bad Bunny, this is on repeat in my head:

And finally, a new Facebook friend painted something fabulous this week:

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This is an AI-free newsletter! While I love to use AI to help me figure out a piece of software I don't understand, my intention is to use it to help me with the drudgery, never with writing, art, creation. All em dashes are intentional and mine, I was using them way before ChatGPT was a twinkle in Sam Altman's eye :-)

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Thank you for reading :-)

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Julia MacMonagle

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I’m Julia MacMonagle—artist, equine-partnered coach, and founder of The Mother Ranch in Apex, NC, a 7 acre sanctuary where women come to breathe, create, and reconnect with themselves. My work blends creativity, presence, and nervous-system awareness to help women (and the occasional teen girl) listen to their Inner Voice and remember what’s true for them. Whether I’m leading an Women’s In-Person Circle, hosting a Women’s Online Creative Circle, or offering equine partnered coaching, everything I do is rooted in gentleness, compassion, and personal agency. I believe we all deserve a place where we don’t have to hold everything together—a space where creativity, connection, and quiet insight can unfold naturally. Art and writing is how I listen to my own Inner Voice. Animals are how I stay grounded. The Mother Ranch is where those worlds meet. When I’m not teaching or painting, you’ll find me with the herd, walking the land, or sketching the tiny moments that make life meaningful.

Monkey Mind

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