Meet Joe, the Peace Chain Guy

"So, Joe, how long have you been doing this?"

"Well, actually, I think it's 18 years to the day."

Joe Murphy, an unassuming man in his 40s, is sitting in front of me with a "peace chain" hanging down his neck. In 1991, when he was 25, he took a piece of clay and inscribed the word "peace" into it. Amorphous shapes soon evolved into pendants. "I was an artist, and this was my expression of peace," he remembered. Like Peace Pilgrim, who walked 25 thousand miles for peace, making these pendants would be Joe's contribution to the world. And like Peace Pilgrim, he also had no plans of stopping.

"In 18 years, I have made 431,204 pieces," Joe said. "I will make them the rest of my life." Joe Murphy is now known as Joe Peace. "It's become a daily practice, a way of finding peace, piece by piece."

If the story ended there, it'd be an inspiring one.  But it gets even more awe-inspiring: Joe has gifted away every single peace chain! Every single one.

Each peace chain has a unique design on one side and an inscription of "peace" — in one of 75 languages — on the other side. They're downright gorgeous! Instead of selling it, though, he gifts them. In the true spirit of a gift-economy, people offer donations and he's been able to carve out his basic living expenses. "It's simple but healthy lifestyle," Joe says.

It really is remarkable. To be sitting in front of someone who is unflinchingly clear that he has to do something for peace in the world, that he will continue making peace chains for the rest of his life, and that he cannot imagine putting a price tag on such a labor of love.

Peace is not easy.  And neither are peace chains.  It's hard work to hand-make tens of thousands of peace chains. It requires equipment, all the work is tough on your back, and each process spans a couple of days. "Yoga and meditation have always been a part of my equation, so that helps," Joe shared, without the slightest hint of weariness.

Doing gift economy isn't easy either — and Joe doesn't do gift economy online. He mainly goes to fairs and events, and sets up a booth. People often get confused about how much to give. "I often tell people that it is a sliding scale from zero to infinity. My sign has always said: 'Free. I Accept Donations', but in the late '90s, I added a 'I suggest $3 to $10' sign."  Some people also get greedy — and it's easy to want more when you see how beautiful these peace chains really are! — and so Joe sets a limit of one gift-economy transaction per person (additional pieces are a minimum of $3). "It works out best when I can actually interact with the person and we have an eye-to-eye connection. With big events, it's hard to do that," he explains. At some events, Joe has actually given away over 14,000 pieces in one weekend!

"When you make offerings in this unconditional way, you must have some remarkable stories," I asked. "Oh yeah, great stories," he said while unzipping a pocket of his backpack. He took out a little orange notebook and while leafing through it, added, "I always forget all the stories, so I write down some of them here." After a pause, he said while still looking at the book, "Like this woman who wrote in saying that she was on a bus and saw someone wearing a Peace Chain and they started a conversation and became great friends!"

As we neared the end of our story-sharing session, he threw in a grand finale: "And one time, this guy calls me up to express his thanks. His mom used to wear a peace chain, and when she passed away suddenly, they had to cremate her body. When her son received the ashes, they also gave him the peace chain since that couldn't be burned. So he has now started to wear it, as a reminder of his mom, of peace, of gift."