080 BANAFSHEH AKHLAGHI: "A Piece of Peace"

Human rights activist. High-powered international attorney. Poised to run for Congress. These accolades and many other prestigious labels describe Banafsheh Akhlaghi–but none of them are her. “I met finally met myself in silence,” she says. “It was a long-time coming.”

She's also a woman in love. “I got married at 45. It was really a big deal. I thought that wasn't in the cards for me. My work was what drove me. I was totally committed to my family, my career. Opening myself up to this sacred union…there are no words.”

The author of “Beautiful Reminders” (March 2015), Banafsheh turns her laser-sharp clarity onto the subject of peace: how to find it and what it really is. “All the chaos in the world can’t take away your true peace. It’s not about me changing anything out there.”