Raining Love and Peace

I woke this day to the sound of rain,
And smiled,
Blessing the gift from the heavens that nourishes the earth.
My heart went out to all things receiving the rain,
That they might feel the blessing
And be at peace.

A walk in the rain was my own blessing
Trickling down upon me.
I thanked the One for giving me the Knowing
That we are all connected,
And each one of us can share blessings
With each other,
With the birds flying high,
With the trees, grass and flowers,
With the planet.

As the wind blew by me bringing wet to my face,
I blessed the wind,
Wishing from my heart
That it bring peace, love, and blessings
To all who felt its currents upon them.

I passed birds in a bush, happily chirping away,
And blessed them that their Joy in life,
Be passed to all who see them,
To all who hear them,
And to all other birds who would then pass it on.

For Joy in life is respect for life.
Respect for life brings inner peace.
Inner peace, like laughter, spreads out like a wave,
In an ever-increasing circle.

Peace from each Heart
Brings Peace to the World,
Peace to the Planet.

Live Love.
Live Peace.

©2006 Kristen S. Boyesen

Peek'n Peak Adventure

I am a new member of COSE, the Council of Smaller Enterprises, an affiliate of Greater Cleveland Partnership. Earlier this month I attended the COSE Small Business Conference held at the IX Convention Center, where I met Carol More, representing the Peek'n Peak Resort and Conference Center. She is in the planning stage for a Women's Retreat to be held at Peek'n Peak, and invited me to attend the resort's first Brew and Wine Festival. She thought Art Experiences would be a wonderful addition to her retreat, and she wanted me to see the facility.

The two tickets came in the mail and I asked a new acquaintance by the name of Chris, if he would like to attend, and he said he would. He also agreed to my suggestion to camp near the resort rather than drive back to Cleveland at 8:00 PM after sampling wine and beer for five hours.

Enough preliminaries!

With car loaded almost to the gills with a large tent, five sleeping bags and a comforter (snow was predicted), firewood, sleeping mats, folding chairs, a small carpet (to prevent the chair legs from punching holes in the tent floor), a TV table, a lantern and personal gear, we set off East on US 90, in a steady rain. A detour in Erie led us to a Bob Evans for soup, and then we saw some of rural PA as we made our way around the detour to the next entrance to I-90.

I called the campground to say we were on our way. They forgot we were coming! ...but finally agreed it was OK to camp. We arrived, paid the fee, and made camp in weather that had slowed to just a mist and then sun while we set up, then resumed to wind, rain and snow. We smiled. Camping was meant to be.

Off to Peek'n Peak! The voice on the phone at the campground when I had called two weeks before, had said that Peek'n Peak was "ten miles away down the road."

Never make assumptions! To me that meant straight, with no turns. Ha!

We went straight into Findley Lake, NY, expecting to see signs for the resort. At the other side of the hamlet, with still no signs, we returned to ask directions. "Straight up the road ... You'll see a big sign."

So, off we went. ...And went. ... And went. ... Until we came to the village of Sherman, eight miles away. A call to Peek'n Peak. We had to go back to Findley Lake and take a left, then go FIVE miles.

Just outside Findley Lake we saw a small green sign with a left arrow, and off we went for ... SIX miles. The road came to a crossroads and became dirt. Yeah, a dirt road. No resort. Another call. We needed to go back to 'downtown' Findley Lake and take a left onto Route 426 South. Another return over same territory. But...

The scenery had been amazing on Bailey Hill Road. Lots of hills (!!!) and farms, and Fall-tinted leaves in shades of yellow, pink, red, and gold. The CD "Prophecy" was wonderful accompaniment for a drive in the country.

Off we went to find Rte 426 S and to take two or three more turns to get to the resort.

"At the end of this road" clearly was a generalization, not driving directions!

Are you wondering about the small green sign at the entrance to Bailey Hill Road? It was a crooked arrow, going FIRST STRAIGHT, THEN left.

Observation.

Paying attention.

There is this program called Art Experiences that might help me with that...

Hey! Mistakes happen (for a purpose.) We toured the beautiful country around Findley Lake and made two contributions to the ultimate result for what the day was all about.

The Festival was in full swing when we arrived, with hundreds of people packed into the tent to get out of the rain. We made contact with Carol, then went off on our own for a tour of the Inn.

Wow. Just seeing the woodwork in the former Reed Mansion is worth a trip to Peek'n Peak. The mansion, formerly located in Erie, PA, was purchased by Peek'n Peak, dismantled, and reassembled as part of the Inn. The ambience is of quiet luxury and elegance.

Quote from the handout we received on our self-guided tour, describing one of the reconstructed rooms:

The ebony-dyed English oak woodwork, hand carved panels and leaded glass windows with shutters were imported and reconstructed by the original Reeds from a three-hundred-year-old German castle, making this room over four-hundred years old.

After the tour of the Inn, we spent most of our time in the snack bar listening to the Bluegrass Band. They were great! We headed out after they quit for the night, but first we got directions from a PKNPK security guard.

First rule of traveling: Know the name and route number of the road where you left all your belongings in a tent.

After two miles in the wrong direction, a call to the campground set us to rights, and we arrived ... to find our tent in tatters. We were prepared for SNOW, not WIND!

Seeing by headlights and fighting tremendous wind and ferocious gusts, we finally stuffed everything into the car and headed back towards Cleveland, laughing in wonder. After all, camping out at the end of October HAD been billed as an adventure!!!

What was it also? A very big lesson in Team Building. I had just met Chris three weeks before. We worked together to solve the problems that were placed before us one after the other and had a great time with the whole experience. The Kris N Chris Adventure Team! Thanks, Chris for pitching in with cold fingers, damp socks, and a howling wind.

Art Experiences for Team Building also presents challenges that are different and fun, but without the cold fingers, wet socks, and howling wind!

©2006 Kristen S. Boyesen

Yes! Try this at home: A Sample Art Experience

I have developed a 75-piece Art Experiences Tool Kit for people who would like to do Art Experiences on their own. Here is one of the drawing games for you to try.

At your local craft store purchase the following three wood cutouts: the oval (with center cut out), the whimsical heart, and the square with rounded edges. In the Cleveland area, I used Pat Catan's.



Seeing Negative Space

Negative space is the area between solid things.

Place the oval on a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Trace around it, inside and out, with a black ink pen. Look at the drawn shapes. The middle hole of the oval is a negative space. Switch your focus back and forth between the positive shape of the oval and the negative space of the drawn hole.

For this next part, you will close your eyes or wear a blindfold.

Tracing the shapes: With eyes closed, trace the other two shapes onto the paper one or more times. Repeat the oval, if desired. Use all of the paper. Locate the edges by feel. Allow the shapes to spill over the edge of the paper. (Work on a washable surface in case you draw off the paper onto the table.) Open your eyes and discover the results.

Identify the original shapes throughout the drawing, then ‘switch gears’ to look at only the negative shapes you created. Go back and forth between the named shapes and the negative shapes several times, exercising your brain’s ability to see both aspects of the patterns.

©2006 Kristen S. Boyesen

This is an excerpt from the Instruction Book that comes with the Art Experiences Tool Kit.

A Day on the Buckeye Trail

Today’s world is filled with stress. We are all in need of ways to sooth away this tension to find healing inner peace. Some people meditate, garden, walk the dog, read or just spend time in quiet solitude. With quiet time to offset the noise, deadlines and chaos, there is balance.

Nature and the arts are both ways to help achieve this balance. The physical community is stark and harsh without the presence of trees, gardens and green-spaces such as parks. The emotional community is tense without the balancing influence of nature.

Today was nature day.

I spent most of the day in the woods on an esker (I will call it that until someone comes along to correct me) in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park clearing out the troughs behind "water bars" and shoring up "check dams." Jim, a fellow member of the Buckeye Trail Association, was the other half of today's crew, and the source of the "how to" knowledge through his many years of volunteering for this kind of work for the organization.

We had a surprise visit from the Goodyear Blimp while we were on our hill in the woods! It glided right over us then made two turns in our area before disappearing from view.

I have hiked on trails in the woods for years but had no idea of how they came into being until I volunteered for a Buckeye Trail Work Party two years ago. It was a four-day event with camping, a chuck wagon, and 20 to 60 volunteers per day, and coyotes answering the call of revele in the morning. What fun!

In addition to learning how to build and repair trails, I learned trail etiquette. Trails do not deteriorate from erosion alone. People-habits can have an even greater negative impact. The most responsible thing to do when hiking is to stay on the middle of the trail, even if it is wet. Walking to the side or on alternate parallel trails eventually destroys vegetation, encourages erosion, and ruins the natural habitat.

All parts of life are connected. My early love of nature is connected to my art, and my art background has helped me to create the Art Experiences program.

Today was a return to my roots ... And we chopped quite a few of them, too!

The Buckeye Trail Association has a website at www.buckeyetrail.org where you can learn more about the Trail, see photos, learn about hikes and work parties, visit the store, post on the forum, become a member and/or make donations to help fund trail maintenance.

©2006 Kristen S. Boyesen

Introducing the Art Experiences Blog

The world is currently locked in left-brain linear thought patterns, causing stress within and between individuals, families, businesses, countries, and the planet.

The purpose of Art Experiences is to help people access and utilize the right sides of their brains through the process of using intense observation to activate muscle movement to create drawings. It does not matter what the marks on the paper look like! It is the process of transferring visual input to hand movement that stimulates the right side of the brain. Many drawing exercises are done without looking at the paper, so it is easier to let go of fear and enjoy the experience. Participants in a session of Art Experiences all sit around the same table to enable bonding. All share in the mystery, the uncertainty, and the fun.

Obtaining a balance between the linear logic of the head and the wide-view perceptions of the heart is the first step in calming a chaotic life. Inner calm and balance foster intuitiveness, creativity, and a reaching out beyond the small world of the self. Inner peace and outward awareness creates bonding in ever-increasing circles: family, community, business, and the world. This is the goal of Art Experiences.


"Inner Peace Brings World Peace"



“…Originality is a practice that can be learned … with a certain amount of attention and surrender. As with any creative endeavor, originality in thinking, in being, requires a heightened state of alertness, a bridging of the poles, a show of fearlessness and willingness to forfeit the known for the unknown, the learned for the experienced.”

The Art of Original Thinking
The Making of a Thought Leader
Jan Philips ©2006
www.artoforiginalthinking.com

The "Inner Peace Brings World Peace" bumper sticker is available through www.shadybrook.org

©2006 Kristen S. Boyesen