Arriving now, day 8...

Remember when we first began this journey? We started with "peace...this we choose each day." Today we return to that phrase. It's a choice and certainly not always an easy one as we all know. It's seems that there are so many temptations to be, well, not so peaceful. Whether it's the traffic, challenging co-workers, the needs of family members (let's not even talk about eye-rolling teenage girls), waiting in lines or on the phone for customer service regarding internet (or phones or computers or...), or constant updates regarding the latest in domestic and international politics.  

The last week has been so uplifting. To focus on peace as all those other un-peaceful activities continue. I, for one, have done a better job however I have a lot left to learn. The next quote captures what I'm striving for when it comes to personal peace.

“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”

— Unknown

Peace tip #8.

It's a simple tip today. A reminder to chose peace when you are in the midst of uncertainty and chaos. My friend Lisa has kindly modified the Project Peace pattern page and inserted my favorite peace quote. Thank you Lisa! Feel free to print this and post in a place that will remind you to choose peace.

Seven peaceful wishes...

It's been one week since we officially began this journey with peace. My time flies especially in December. On Monday at noon (US central time) I opened Ravelry to check on the status of the number of pattern downloads and there it was...a number filled with zeroes, 20,000. This means that in some way shape or form 20,000 lives has been touched by the message of peace in the last 4 weeks. Keep spreading the word as we need as many people to stop and think "peace, what does that mean to me?" 

Today I'm going to get straight to the peaceful tip. We've spent the past week exploring what does peace really mean? It's a word that we use all the time but defining it can be challenging. We've talked about snowflakes, media detox (which definitely stirred the pot for some of you), breathing exercises, gardening/coloring and doodled words that capture the meaning of peace. Throughout the peace-along we will be writing a series of letters not ones that will be sent to anyone but jotting down some ideas (or you can just think about them.

Peace tip #7

On my daily walk the other day I came across some sidewalk chalk art. It wasn't there the day before and it vanished the next day with the heavy rains. It was a "sign." 

Dear Self,

Here are 7 wishes I have for you...(go ahead, talk nicely to yourself or identify ways to be peaceful to yourself).

1. ___
2. ___
3. ___
4. ___
5. ___
6. ___
7. ___

Signed,

Self

Have a very peaceful day filled with sending yourself lots of peaceful and positive thoughts.

P.S. As a reminder I'm only sending an email every 7 days so you'll need to check the blog daily.

P.S.S. I'll be announcing a special give-away sometime in the next 6 days so make sure you check daily. 

P.S.S.S. Please feel free to leave comments and to like each post. 

Here's day 6...

This past summer I had an opportunity to read a few books and I found myself completely engrossed in books about walking. I know it sounds odd to read about walking but as an individual that LOVES to walk I was surprised to learn how much walking has influenced our world. Classic literature wouldn't be where it is today if it wasn't for walking. Nietzsche, Rousseau, Thoreau, and Whitman used walking as a means to clear their minds or to ponder great thoughts. 

Now you might think I'm headed in the direction of suggesting a walk today (which is always a great idea) but that would be too obvious. Instead I'm turning to an idea that really grabbed me this summer in one of those many books I read. 

“We must really mange one day to do without ‘news’. Reading the newspapers in fact only tells us what we didn’t yet know. And that is exactly what we are looking for: something new. But what we didn’t yet know is exactly what we forget immediately. Because as soon as we know it, we have to leave room for what we don’t yet know, which will come tomorrow...

When you walk, news becomes unimportant. Soon you have lost all knowledge of the world and its gymnastics, the most recent own goal, the latest scandal. You no longer await the surprise development, or want to hear how it really all began, or what happened in the end...

After walking far and long, you can even come to wonder in surprise how you could ever have been interested in it. The slow respiration of things makes everyday huffing and puffing appear vain, unhealthy agitation.”

— A Philosophy of Walking by Frederic Gros

I spent the summer at a cabin without a t.v., no newspaper, and very little internet. That constant need to know feeling disappears rather quickly. It's funny how little time it takes to adapt to a life without the news. Without the distraction of the t.v. it seems as if you've been given the gift of time.

Upon returning to our home this fall, we decided to disconnect the t.v. I knew that as soon as I had access to a t.v. I would be back to watching the news every night. Have you ever noticed that the news captures all the bad things happening in the world. Can you think of one time recently that the news began with a wonderful thing that happened today? 

Yet we feel compelled to be "connected" and "to know what's going on in the world." Why? Why must we be connected to all that negativity. Are we going to change it by knowing it's happening? Will it continue if you opt out of listening to it? Why can't we be connected to a positive community? One that represents the good in people? 

Peace tip #6.

Unplug today. You choose to what degree. Perhaps it's the news (t.v., radio, internet, print), Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. You may find that unplugging from the constant negative and angry messages presented in the media brings you a great sense of peace. And don't worry that you'll miss anything because the news will be there tomorrow. Having given yourself the gift of time you might even find that you want to go for a walk.

May your stitches and steps be filled with peace and quiet...

Christina

On the fifth day...

...we are going to take a moment to slow things down. It seems there is a lot of talk these days about mindfulness and meditation. Not that meditation is new by any means but it's becoming a topic that is garnering a lot more attention. I am by no means an expert on this topic but I know a few tiny things that might be helpful on our path of peace. 

Some people may shy away from the topic of meditation because it's too "new-age" or "how can that possibly be of any benefit" or "I've tried and I'm no good." But I'm not proposing we become zenful and master the art of meditation. Nope we're just going to work on one small part. Breathing.

“What I have to say about meditation boils down to this: it never hurts. It always helps. It costs nothing, and it improves everything. There are so few things on earth of which this can be said. ...yet many are still intimidated by sitting still and focusing on the moment. Not because they don’t want to, but because they are convinced they’re bad at it.”

— Rebecca Pacheco from "Do Your OM Thing"

Without breath our life on earth ends within a matter of minutes. It's so vital to life that it's an involuntary action. We breathe in and out 100's of times each day without ever stopping to think about this life-sustaining function. So today we are going to turn our attention to our breath, to recharge our bodies and our minds and focus on the moment at hand.

Peace tip #5.
First, read through these directions. Otherwise you'll be closing your eyes before you read the rest of the directions.

• Find a quiet place where you won’t be distracted.
• Locate a chair like a dining room or kitchen chair; it should be firm.
• Sit down, feet placed on the floor, hands in your lap.
• Now close your eyes and start to relax.
• Breathe in through your nose slowly and count in your head 1-2-3-4, now pause holding it for just a second and then slowly release to the count of 5 (1-2-3-4-5) and then briefly pause before repeating the cycle.
• Repeat this 10 times or more.
• Start to notice how your body relaxes and feels more complete. Focus on the breath and let any thoughts that enter your mind go with each exhale.

Feel free to use this technique anytime during the day to bring you peace and tranquility. You can change the counting rhythm (such as 5 counts in and 6 counts out). Once you have this mastered you can use letters to words instead of the numbers.  Try L-O-V-E for the inhale and P-E-A-C-E for the exhale.

Before you began this activity did you encounter any feelings of resistance?

How did you feel after taking a few moments to slow down your breathing and focus?

How might you incorporate this technique to infuse more peace into your day?

A peaceful mountain stream in Gallatin National Forest near Big Sky, MT

Peace be with you today…