This week I had a friend who was travelling for work and to make it a little more interesting I challenged her to a scavenger hunt. There were 20 items on her list and the last one was:
20. Take a picture of peace.
And since I am never one to give anyone something I wouldn’t be willing to do, I was thinking a lot about what my pictures of peace would look like.
It just so happened that I was able to go to my grandparents farm this weekend to spend some time with them, soaking in some time on the farm, time spent laughing, sharing, and enjoying one another. And since it is one of the places that I feel most at peace it wasn’t too difficult to find some opportunities to picture peace.
So these are my pictures of peace from this weekend:
I recently found a project that Joan Steffend Brandmeier is helping to further- Peace Begins With Me, and it inspired me to think about ways that I can help create peace… and I often wonder what it would look like if we spent more time picturing peace. Figuring out what our role was in it, what little part we can play in the larger whole.
Since my day job is to help create healthy relationships, to further healthy communities and so much of that is contingent upon creating more peace within homes, within our communities as they are inextricably linked… it comes as no surprise that I often find myself thinking about peace.
In invite you to check out Joan’s link and I would love to hear, what little piece of peace will you offer?
Another seed that was planted was while attending a workshop on writing that was offered by John Noltner a few weeks ago. He is doing a beautiful project called A Peace of My Mind. John invited people to answer the question: What Does Peace Mean To You? They are putting together a book and have a campaign on kickstarter (and on Facebook) that tells the story of the project that is well worth watching.
So what does peace look like to you, what parts of peace do you cultivate in your own life? Are there any pictures in your life that create peace for you? Who has been a role model for peace in your own life?
All things I will be mulling over as I continue to look for opportunities to picture peace.
I would love to hear your thoughts…
Erica Staab 
Beautiful pictures.
Peace for me: sleeping child, ocean, sky, glowing moon, mandalas, candle flames, all-encompassing love. There’s peace inside me too and I treasure the moments I find it.
It looks like you had a peaceful weekend. Just looking at these pictures brought me a sense of peace! I try to find small moments of peace-time outdoors in nature, spending time near water (lake, stream, river or ocean), a sleeping child (especially my own noisy boys!) or even time spent doing the dishes or laundry. Thanks for sharing your moments of peace, Erica.
Thank you both for your moments of peace…they brought a smile to my face and added to the peace in my heart tonight :).
And there is something achingly beautiful about their little faces when children sleep…
Peace to me is: a walk on a sunny day in the River Bend Nature Center among wildflowers and prairie grasses with only the sounds of birds chirping…the sight of my youngest son laying on the carpet with one hand gently stroking the fur of one of our cats…a hug, kiss, and “love you mom” from my oldest who is otherwise too “cool” to show affection…savasana at the end of an exhilirating yoga session…any poem by Mary Oliver…an early morning run before sunise when everyone is still asleep…a day at work when my co-worker has the day off 🙂
Peace to me is visiting my 4 year old son’s grave at Cavalry Cemetery, walking around up there and going over to Cannon Lake and watching a beautiful orange sunset on a glassy surface and watching the sky turn from blue, to many colors of yellow’s & purple.