Her mentorship was invaluable, her heart contagious, her intuition spot on and her visioning capabilities extraordinary. I am humbled to have had to opportunity to be affiliated with Pathways to Peace and fulfill our combined missions of healing. May you Rest In Peace dear Avon.. the world is better for having had you in it and having spread as much peace as you did. Love forever, Tammy

I miss seeing Avon’s name following mine on our zoom daily meditative vigils … (A – for Anne, Avon).  As that connection  gave me comfort.  Only recently do I understand why. For besides the fact that Avon is the truest embodiment of peace in human form that I know – THERE’S MORE.  Avon was close ally of the Center for Visionary Leadership whose book “Spiritual Politics” was the inspiration that led me after 911 to various simultaneous “pathways to peace” nationally and internationally (Peace Alliance Department of Peace campaign, Global Movement for the Culture of Peace and UN NGO “Peace Through Unity”).  I have been a foot-solder in these 3 different but related organizations for many years. Yet only  now do I more deeply know and appreciate the profound synergy that Avon actually was the visionary, co-founder / co-creator of them all!  (The story of her help in our NGO’s founding is amazing!)  I know Avon’s pioneer peacebuilding spirit is continuing to forge ahead these (heartfelt) Pathways to Peace that we share.

~Anne Creter

In 2013 I had the privilege of interviewing Avon on camera over several sessions. I became tremendously inspired by her presence and her stories, which were divided into a series available here. The staff and directors of Pathways to Peace also expressed their understandings of Peace Day. For me it was an unforgettable and treasured experience.

~David Hazen

Dearest Avon: Thank you for shining so much light into the world. We love and honor you for all of the astonishing pathways to peace you birthed into form including spearheading International Day of Peace and so many other efforts. Your light will surely continue to shine bright through all of the many lives you have touched and will continue to touch from the other side. I love you dear one. Thank you for always being a true champion for Peace, Conscious Collaborations and Good Will. Sending love and gratitude.

~Diane Williams

When a Mentor Passes

The Message and the Mission

What do you do when a mentor passes?  It’s a particular kind of loss. It’s a chosen loss. They feel like family.  Their meaning and their influence well outweigh their origins.  They can be deeper than family in some way because there was a stepping into this relationship.

A recognition of like-mind, like-spirit, like-purpose, like… potential.

Avon Mattison-

She was unapologetically committed to her vision.  Her essence was unification. This is what spoke to me.  Years before I met her, I had pulled a similar thought, similar mission, down from the ether.  This was part of the recognition that we were cut from the same cloth, the big “Yes!” you want to scream out when you hear someone speak or see someone step forward in the world.  “Yes! Me too!  I feel that way.  I see it too!” And in that recognition of vision, you personally feel seen and just a little less alone in the world.

When I first met her, I did the closest thing to fan-girling I’ve ever done in my life and as I took her hand with tears in my eyes, I said, “You changed my life.”

I first started to fantasize about connecting with the rest of the world through silence and prayer when I was a kid.  It was part of my play when alone in the woods.  The world was my imaginary playmate…  What if I got very, very still? I bet other people can feel me around the world! I bet I can play with the whole world in my head. In my heart!  Perhaps it was simply a lonely little girls wish, but it grew into a deep understanding of the potential this simple wish could have to transform our planet to become a little kinder, a more welcoming place.  It became my life’s work.

Finding the Message

Today, I sit and watch the snow cascade downward as I float through my conversations with Avon. I look for the message in the loss.  With a true mentor the teaching can be both strongly led or incredibly subtle. I think of the comfort in being seen, as well as the challenge of be held to your best-self. You want to achieve, to reach for your best-self and to become better in the moments when you are not.

I think back to a moment in the pandemic when things were unclear and full of uncertainty. Someone reached to me, took me in hand and held me in the darkness, “I got you.” And I said, “Me too.” And I took a breath.  Ahh, the power of a simple intent. This is also the role of the mentor metaphorically.  Someone who you know will hold you in their consciousness, through the proverbial darkness, so you can take a breath and find your own way.

And then there is the big secret to the mentor relationship… we touch each other, the mentor and mentee. It may seem like one is teaching the other, but we are learning from each other.  There is no hierarchy.  Inevitably, both people are needed to fulfill any mission worth achieving. There is a passing on of good intentions that allow a vision to grow with each generation and allow us to cull and shape and make relevant… and live on.

This is when the message becomes clear.  It’s time to take the mantle, whether you feel ready or not.  We become our own guiding light.  We smile, and look upward and say, “I got this.  I got you. I’ll take it from here.  Rest.”

With such love and respect,

Deborah

I met Avon as a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner in 2002 after 9-11 incident. Her faith and trust in peace was rocked but she continued to do her part to be strong and recover her passion of sharing peace with me and gave me renewed passion to be a person of love and peace.

Your spirit will always be with me.

~Martha Parker

We met at the UN. Our shared love for building peace brought us together for the 1995 50th Anniversary of the UN,

I thank you Avon for so many things. .. From The Ribbons in SF in 1995, to UNICEF Board meetings, to your introduction of me to Betty Williams and PeaceJam, to your participation in the founding of URI and especially for your introduction to the International Day of Peace.

Thank you for the foundation, the direction and purpose for my life’s work  May you continue to inspire and direct from above!

May Peace Prevail on Earth!!
Love, Monica

My precious introduction to Avon came when I joined the planning committee of PTP over a year ago.
Avon went out of her way to connect people and to exponentially expand the essence and community of Peace. She fervently mentored intergenerationally, softly guiding and inspiring. Avon shone a light on others to highlight their humanity and propensity for Peace. The expanse of her work and dedication to putting Peace in our minds, hearts and hands has been sublime. A life’s work of deliberately spreading and gently sharing Peace as a practice.

I bid you a sweet farewell dear Avon as you recede to the purity of Peace. I pray your energetic signature continues to awaken us to possibilities for Peace. I miss your earthy presence and will always listen for your unstinting leadership.

~Natasha Singh-Ally

I had the honor of spending over many years weekly home visits with Avon, assisting her health and wellbeing through the art of Jin Shin Jyutsu®. A form of acupressure known to harmonize body, mind and spirit. We would merge in meditation and devotional song and mantra to Tara the liberator, Tara born from the tear of Avalokiteshvara, Chenrezig. She was a sensitive and elevated Being. I honor her for her peace building work and mentorship with young people, woman and man, marginalized people around the world. Avon became a sister and spiritual friend.

I live in Germany now. She is greatly missed but her light shines on.

om tare tu tare ture svaha

~Annette Huck

Avon was part of our Gaiafield Wisdom Council that met weekly to meditate and practice subtle activism for over 10 years. From time to time, we would meet at Larkspur Landing for lunch. I loved our lunches, she was so present with me and our conversations would be great rambling adventures into the mystery. Avon was also beautiful to meditate with. She truly did have an angelic presence, golden, silent, loving. We visited Doc Childre at HeartMath once, and we sat together with him in silence. It was such a beautiful experience, we were one silent unified field. Avon was a dear friend as well as a powerful spiritual ally. I still feel her strongly as a presence and she seems radiant and happy on the other side.

~David Nicol