Saludos! Me llamo Molly. Yo soy la madre de Leo, Mary Rose y Patrick y la esposa de Kenny, el cocinero extraordinaire de Peace Village! I am honored to share with you a little bit about me, memories of my past with Peace Village , my hopes for its future and this present moment, the gift that it is. Our family has lived bi-culturally since my oldest, Leo, was born in Dec 2000. For the most part, we have spent half of our time here in Hood River and the other half of the year in La Ventana, Baja CA Sur, Mexico. There we live, work and recreate. The kids go to the local schools. One of the things I love about Peace Village is the cultural diversity. Me gusta pasar tiempo con mi communidad. Convivio! Estoy a mi casa en mi corazon en los dos lugares☺ I am a yoga practitioner, wellness advocate, and kiteboard instructor. Each year of camp I get so excited to share some of my passions with the Village. Sometimes it feels like Peace village is a canvass and we are all part of the creation☺. Each year what I really want to be is a camper☺ I am so grateful for the Columbia Gorge Peace Village’s Principles of Peace: Authentic Self Expression, Connection and Empowerment. They have facilitated so much growth for me, my family, my clan, mi comunidad, and on and on. I appreciate how Peace village continues to evolve and change and grow. I am grateful for the opportunity to be connected with PV throughout the year as a member of the Dream Team. The Dreamers continue to dream. Kids grow up, needs change and we know that we are not alone, that we are connected… Additionally, after having lived here seasonally for the past 21 years, I am spending my first winter in Hood River! WoW, so THIS is what it is like??) I have an exciting new job as the Organizer for the Hood River County Water Protection Ballot Measure 14-55 for the Local Water Alliance. The measure is on the May ballot. I feel compelled to share with you some of my ramblings, memories of PV past, hopes for the future and observations of the present, the gift that it is…. Bird by Bird The first year of camp: Patrick was an infant. Mary Rose was a camper in-waiting; we didn’t have “Turtles” back then like we do now! Leo was a Salamander, I think☺ I remember Dee and Karen and Geri and Bill. I remember John with his magnificent bell, the time keeper☺, I remember amazing peaches, hardboiled eggs and cheese sticks. I remember Suzanne Wright bringing her oh-so fresh, brand new baby to camp simply to be with us all☺ I remember carpooling with Sullivan, the UU’s, Faith Traditions, Native Storytelling, Non-violent Conflict Resolution. I remember being comfortable and at ease. The Middle Years: I remember Mary Lee Hattenhauer’s food explorations and discovery which the kids loved so much☺. I remember veggie sculptures, of course! Erika and ham sandwiches☺, veggie ones too☺, kitchen witches, of course. And warlocks too… I remember Village Fair and Althea Hukari. Laurie Vancott. Art and Theatre. Clay, and Recyclables and Re-usables and Reducing. We didn’t’ realize how much impact one camp for one short week could reduce so much waste! Here here!! Master recyclers…Jody Behr... So many amazing and talented and generous people. I love the Rites of Passage program! The Future of Peace Village: Peace Within, Peace Among and Peace Around. Thank you Columbia Gorge Peace Village y Namaste, Molly K
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An Earth Connection Tale Tuning into nature (aka. Earth Connections) is one of our core teachings at Peace Village We hope this story submitted by Karen Murphy (Peace Village mom and board member) will inspire your own family earth connections this season! My son and I are on a bike ride from Bridge of the Gods to Eagle Creek. As we bike we talk. He mostly talks and I mostly listen. He tells me his latest game, story, and music ideas and he tells me what he knows about salmon. Upon arrival at the creek we get down close to the water, crawling under low stretching branches of trees and over wet river rocks until we can see individual salmon in all the stages of spawning and death. We see some making their way up small rapids, males staying close to females, females preparing the locations for eggs, females simply staying close to their eggs until death. We see many dead fish in the water and some that have been dragged out to the forest floor by critters. We see rippling colonies of larvae continuing the decomposition process. It has rained recently and the air is thick with moisture yet the sky is blue. The forest is awash in the colors of autumn. The air is crisp. The scent of fish is strong. We feel incredibly interested, inspired and alive. Home is miles away and we easily enfold ourselves within the living landscape of this moment. Later as we pedal back through the forest to home I listen to my son some more. I see how the afternoon’s adventure had ignited another layer of inspiration within him. He casually mentions that one of his superpowers is to care for the wilderness. Then he clarifies the thought and says, “Actually all people have that superpower to care for the wilderness, they just need to remember.” He then goes on to tell me about his plans to look up more salmon data to share with his friends and create a salmon hatchery next to a river in minecraft and on and on . . . So many ideas. I listen with an open heart to my son’s emerging creative self and I listen to the emerging next levels of consciousness being awakened within me. I hold space for both. I also broaden my awareness to hold space for the challenges of the salmon, the challenges of all our planet’s fresh water sources including Oxbow Springs a couples miles east of us currently in danger of being sold to Nestle. I hold the awareness of the indigenous peoples of the river who have long held sacred the waters and the salmon and who continue to carry the wounds of genocide and occupation. I hold space for the recent eruption of violence and taking of life in Roseburg a handful of miles to the west. I hold space for all the collective disconnect that has resulted in these challenges and each one of our wounds. Although in the holding of all this my eyes mist, and my heart clenches to be so stretched, I keep breathing and listening and holding and widening. And as I witness my son’s connection with nature and his own creative self root deeper within him a vision emerges. I see the disconnects loosening and falling away revealing pathways for healing - the healing of self, the healing of community, the healing of the Earth. I see the overlapping spirals of transformation for us all. As high levels of excitement are still high in the air and campers' energy levels need a boost, some camper's choose to do yoga. As Monica Shuler facilitates a session of yoga, camper's stretch their limbs and test their flexibility. The movement practiced in yoga is not only good for the body but is also a peaceful method to center one's self. Yoga is a perfect moment for peace and quiet. Through the various poses campers have a relaxing fun time! Today's spiritual leader was Patrick Rawson, the founder of St. Francis House which is a youth center located in Odell. As he shares with us his faith he invited us all to sing along to "One big family under one sky". With this song he illustrates to us the teachings of St. Francis who focused his teachings on peace and the environment. With the help from Claire Rawson, his daughter, camper's learned the motions to the song and joined him in this beautiful song. Though many campers didn't know the song they were quick to join in on the motions. After the song, the assembly consisted of more fun games with Bill, songs with Chelan, and more great excitement from all the campers to begin another memorable day here at Peace Village!
Today marks the first day of my seventh year of camp, but my very first day as a teacher at Peace Village. In previous years I have been a counselor for all variety of age groups, so many of the campers' faces are familiar as they arrive for their core activity in Non-Violent Conflict Resolution (Theatre!). Along with my fabulous co-teacher, Nicole, we begin by gauging and sharing our "energy thermometers" -- being honest with ourselves and with others about how we are feeling. We move into an activity based on our thermometer readings: does the group need more energy? to build teamwork? to focus together? to be silly?
After focusing on finding our peace within and among, we talk about empathy, and how we can use our bodies to communicate emotions. Nicole uses words like "powerful," "community," and "peaceful" as well as words like "lonely" so we can practice registering body language cues of all kinds and feel those emotions in ourselves. This form of "image theatre" leads us into a brief discussion of how we can communicate stories physically. Our next lesson will focus on social justice theatre -- using theatre to make a world a better place. We brainstorm a list of things that are important to us: "caring for pets/animals," "standing up for others," "being honest," and "accepting differences" among them. These ideas are coming from some of our youngest campers; I am always impressed with the hearts and minds of kids of all ages and I am excited to take those ideas and create scenes to share our passions. As always, looking forward to the rest of the week! - Sullivan theatre instructor The other night as I was tucking my younger son into bed he snuggled up to me tighter than usual and asked me to tap on him. Tapping, also known as EFT (emotional freedom techniques) is a form of stress and anxiety relief that I have shared with my kids. My boys are ages 15 and 9 and while tolerant of mom’s “energy stuff” they’re not necessary enthusiastic volunteers.
When my son asks for tapping I know something is up. Thinking back on the day I asked him a few questions and we pinpointed an incident where he had inadvertently watched a scary scene of a movie at a friend’s house. That imagery was coming up now and he was feeling scared; a perfect time for tapping. EFT combines the ancient practice of acupuncture with present day energy psychology science resulting in a very effective emotional first-aid tool. EFT is practiced by tapping gently with two or three fingers on points on the hand, head and upper body while tuning into negative feelings, emotions, sensations, or beliefs. Tapping on these meridian endpoints (acupressure points on the body’s energy system) has been shown to reduce the release of stress hormones and calm the amygdala, the part of the brain that assesses threat. Essentially tapping sends a message throughout the body that all is well, disengaging us from the stress response. Try this basic recipe for yourself. Start by tapping on the karate chop point and tuning into the issue by saying to yourself, “Even though I’m feeling (insert emotion) I deeply and completely love and accept myself.” or “Even though I have (this problem) I’m learning to love and accept myself.” Whatever statement feels intuitively right for you in the moment is perfect. Continue tapping through the points on the head and upper body, maintaining focus on the emotion or problem until you feel some relief. Tapping is a great tool to share with kids. I had a fabulous time teaching it to Peace Village campers last summer. Young kids take quickly to moving energy. A little tapping goes a long way. Kids can learn to tap on themselves. You can also surrogate tap for your kids (tapping on yourself while tuning into your child’s issue). Schools are beginning to use tapping in the classroom with great results. In my son’s case the other night I tapped on his points for him, reminding him to take slow, deep breathes. “Even though you’re feeling scared, you’re an awesome kid and everything is going to be okay.” After three to four rounds he was fast asleep. Peace out, Karen Murphy Karen is a founding organizer of Columbia Gorge Peace Village. When not sharing practices for peace with our kids at camp or in our teen programs, she can be found at: Mindful Parenting Tools and Whole Family Energetics During the Earth Art activity at camp, teacher and artist Janet Essley, shared an original story with the campers. The story was the basis for the Story Sticks made by the campers. We will be sharing sections of the story, along with photos of the making of the sticks.
The Beginning... A great story that will be told a long time from now, by your great grandchildren. They will say- It is said that in ancient times, all the plants, animals and people and even mountains, clouds, stars and rivers could talk to one another. This is the story of the Great Remembrance Times. A long time ago, when my great grandmother was very young, it was a period of great change. There were many changes happening very fast. The air, the oceans, the whole climate was changing. The air was so gray that Mountain could not even see his feet. He was angry, he did not like this change. So he rumbled. Loudly. The other animals had to be careful. Pika came out from his burrow. Mountain Goat leaped to her feet, ready to run. Pika and Mountain Goat were very worried about Mountain. White Bark Pine heard them talking. The four-legged and one-leggeds of Mountain’s country gathered and a plan began to form... CGPV believes that a child (or adult for that matter) who knows how to slow down, tune in and begin creating peace within is going to be a much more effective co-creator of peace at home, at school, with friends and ultimately in the wider world. With that in mind, last August our Peace Heroes core class taught campers simple, powerful tools for cultivating that inner connection. I’ll be sharing a few of them with you via the Peace Village Newsletter. All of the tools we shared were easy, fast and if practiced regularly guaranteed to increase the peace quotient in your home. The first tool is a Heart Coherence Meditation where we simply tune into the heart center and slow down and deepen the breath. This simple activity positively impacts brainwaves, the immune system, and emotional waves. We feel better when we’re in heart coherence. We feel less stress and anxiety. We slow things down and step aside from the mental and emotional spin that can send us off track. Once children are ready for it (have gotten all their wiggles out) they love this practice. Life for many kids can be fast paced and full. That can be good some of the time but also overwhelming, and stressful. To allow for stillness and rest for a few moments within their inner landscape is a gift. This kind of tuning in can provide clarity, and focus to decisions and projects and grounding and re-balancing when children are feeling fearful, nervous or worried. I highly recommend practicing this with and in front of your kids. Watching someone else take a moment to breathe reminds and inspires us to do the same. A child watching a parent taking time for themselves to get centered is powerful modeling. Heart Coherence Meditation: Sit comfortably with your feet flat on the ground. Close your eyes and place one or both hands on your heart. Send your attention and gratitude to your heart. Take a deep breath in. Slowly exhale. Continue to breathe slowly and deeply. In your mind count up to 5 or 6 for each inhale and the same for each exhale. Continue for a few minutes or as long as you like. Options: Choose a word for each inhale - something you want to receive (peace, love, clarity). Choose another word for each exhale - something you want to release (stress, fear, confusion). Choose a color that signifies peace, gratitude, or acceptance and imagine that color surrounding you and filling you during the meditation. -- Karen Murphy
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August 2018
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