Concepcion Picciotto only has a few front teeth and her home is a plastic tarp over the sidewalk. She is not worried about dog barf stains on her white carpet, or if she would be able to resell her home easier if she had granite counter tops in her kitchen.
She is committed to her purpose and her passion, peace and justice in the world, disarming nuclear weapons.
Her home has a prestigious address on the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue.
She handed me a copy of a newspaper article, “A life of protest” from the Toledo Magazine, Dec. 4-10, 1988 when I asked if I could take her photograph.
“To save the children. Go home and look on Facebook and YouTube. I am there.”
She is.
I had walked past her. I had taken my photograph of the famous white house across the street from her. I saw what I came to see. It was time to leave. But, I was curious.
Who is this woman? Who is this woman who faces the front door of the white house. I came back to see.
Her name was in the article she handed me. Concepcion Picciotto.
When I came home I looked on the internet and found several articles and videos of her on YouTube.
I read the articles from The Washington Post , Whatever Happened to the protesters from Layayette Square Park? By Kris Coronado. Sunday, January 30, 2011. And, A Long Wait for Peace, by David Montgomery,Washington Post Staff Writer ,Saturday, June 3, 2006.
She has lived on Pennsylvania Avenue since August 1, 1981. Committed to her purpose. She stays the course.
She lives with passion. She has purpose. Single-minded purpose.
Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.
– Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German Philosopher
Conception Picciotto lives with passion.
I don’t live with passion. I can not stay focused on one thing for more than a week, perhaps two. This year I am committed to write, to wake up early and sit at my computer and type.
Finding passion in words.
What are you passionate about?
