great minds dream alike

black & white ~  rainbow  ~  blue  ~  coffee

return to peace shirts

This is the first and most resonant image in the (PEACE) WORDS series. It speaks deeply to people over and over.

"Great minds think alike and fools seldom differ" is attributed to the great Anonymous but the word "dream" alludes to the collective unconscious in which we all participate and its substitution into the shortened phrase brings peace into the inherent being of all.

As a t-shirt, the rainbow version of GREAT MINDS on a black field is the most significant, describing the commonality of the human race in the great void of existence. A rainbow is not meant to depict diversity, not meant to show how different we humans are; a rainbow is meant to symbolize the bridge between differences ~ it denotes harmony. Coupled with the peace symbol and the words, "dream alike", that particular t-shirt resonates to the core of the issue. It stimulates the emergence of the deep-seated quest for peace within us all and lights that quest with honor.

Wearing a GREAT MINDS t-shirt on a plane always provokes a positive response. Sometimes I sport a wild appearance ~ maybe people are relieved I’m not a terrorist! Revolutionary, yes. Terrorist, no. One man told me "great minds think alike…" were his grandmother’s dying words only a couple weeks earlier ~ they would always be special to him. Most people just smile and nod approvingly. Sometimes they ask as to where they too can get a t-shirt.

As graffiti, GREAT MINDS DREAM ALIKE has been seen in large and small formats for years. I have had a banner on the front of my house long enough to be the "crazy guy in the neighborhood" but one neighbor told me he instructs his daughter to read it every morning on her way to high school. I have left GREAT MINDS up for years with the thought that it may be the only reading she does all day.

The original idea for GREAT MINDS was to write a book of short biographies (two to three pages each) of the recipients of the Nobel Prize for Peace. That would be a powerful and inspiring collection to compose. Hopefully, it will manifest soon.

In my mind, whenever I see this image, I picture Einstein. But it could as easily be Buddha or Gandhi or Martin Luther King. Or (insert your favorite peace revolutionary here)!

I’m not sure if I would have continued the (PEACE) WORDS series if GREAT MINDS hadn’t affected me so deeply. It continues to affect me after all these years.