Finding Peace. . .

“When the power of Love, overcomes the love of Power. The world will know peace.”

-JIMI HENDRIX

Last week was a bit of a rough week with uncertainty again in our world. And, then my mom sent me this quote, and everything seemed a bit more manageable.

I paused and read the quote a few times. It is interesting, because my dad loved this musician. I tended to think his music and style was a lot of noise and hard to understand. So, I researched a bit about him and this is what I found. . .

Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix's innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form...

According to Rockhall.com, “Jimi Hendrix was the most gifted instrumentalist of all time, a self-taught electric guitarist who revolutionized music.”

Sadly, this musician passed away at a very young age. Finding peace within himself appeared to be a recurring struggle.

Yes, it seems odd for me to be writing about a musician, especially Jimi Hendrix, since this is not really my genre of preferred music. However, what I took away from this quote, this research, and the message, was that all of us deep down are aiming to find peace in our hearts, peace in our relationships, and peace within world issues.

With so many conflicting views on heated topics in our world, it appears that POWER is what is leading many of us, instead of LOVE.

The power of words can be so strong, the power of actions as well. What if we all paused for a moment, and focused on how to build ourselves up, how to build others up, and just live for a moment, not aiming to change others.

But, how do we achieve it? I think it starts as simply as finding a creative outlet to let off steam, to get feelings out on paper, to use that nervous energy to create something.

Music, art, dance are all gateways to expressing oneself and finding a way to have peace. We found in our home that we had been neglecting some forms of art over the holidays due to all of the hustle and bustle. We were so busy creating for others that we forgot about ourselves.

So. . . I wanted to show you that even if you think you are not artistic, every one of us can find a creative outlet to find a peaceful state of being.

When I started to research art expression, I first found that it is an example of dance, painting, and composing music. However, Britannica revised their definition and this is what I found. . .

Art as a representation of outer existence (admittedly “seen through a temperament”) has been replaced by art as an expression of humans’ inner life.

Any type of activity that represents your inner life- is living artfully.

So, here are some of the Iler top pics of living an artful life. .

• Scott- well, woodworking of course! Graphic design has been his newfound art passion. He is researching, designing, and creating so many amazing new items in the wood shop.

• Erin- gardening and writing. The goal is to find more ways to create sustainability with gardening in 2022, which requires more creative thinking utilizing space in the backyard.

• Hannah- returning to dance and movement. Her love of the ocean is expressed in every movement.

• Rebecca- swim and photography. She has found that her artistic outlet is more of a physical outlet and capturing beauty through photographs.

As a family- hiking and camping. We can all agree that we find beauty and peace when we all unplug and escape to nature.

Notice that none of us have repeated artistic outlets. And, as we each begin to cultivate these hobbies, guess what, we all find that we are in better moods, we are in a calmer state than when we began.

So, 2022. . . it’s a New Year. Still some unprecedented times, but what can you do to find love in your heart, find peace in your everyday living? I highly recommend taking up a creative outlet. It just might spread farther than your four walls that you live in, spreading to friends, family, and your community.

Oh, and you might just find you also have a hidden artistic talent! Like my nephew and I did. We found out that a Youtube tutorial and listening to a beat, could create an impromptu “Heart and Soul” duet on the piano.

Let yourself be free for a moment, let go of control, and you might be surprised what peace you find in yourself. After all. . .