Special 10% Savings Make Looking Beautiful Easy On The Pocketbook too!

Look at this History Channel Look inside the Oscars!

Let's Look Our Best for Oscar Night and Focus On Botanic Natural Skincare!!!

It's Oscar night tonight!  The Academy Awards!  And we can have fun with guests or just dressing up with friends and looking our best. And let's face it, the chances of us getting $120,000 "gift bag" like the Stars is pretty slim!

So once a month we work to create a special savings for you! Our philosophy is to think about what matters to most people these days, and while the economy seems to be picking up, we still enjoy giving discounts to our valuable clients like you.  

Beautiful skin is at the core of beauty and health.  Yes, cosmetics/makeup are so fun to add, but that beautiful smooth skin-base provides a perfect pallet so your  cosmetics are an enhancement.  And, a natural one at that!

PeaceSpaProducts.org

PeaceJourney.com NonProfit

Jeannette Barcelos Kravitz

Your friend and skin care expert! 

Valentine's Day Gifts and The Gift of Giving

Valentine's Day Gifts and The Gift of Giving

Peace Spa Products donates 100% of their profits to the work at PeaceJourney.com during Valentine's Day Promotion.

The money raised goes directly to supporting PeaceJourney Youth Adventure trips and documentary currently in the works.

While the nonprofit sponsorKIDS Charities 501c3 who manages Peace Journey activites accepts direct donations, this added fundraising helps directly with production and program development.

You can learn more by going to: Peace Journey Website, where you can donate, send us an email, and soon, purchase Peace Journey: Seven Paths to a Charmed Life book with Stories to Inspire 1 Million Good Deeds!

Peace Journey Loves Cultural Exploration Everywhere!

Peace Journey Seven Paths Sharing 7 Cultural Concepts 

7 cultural concepts we don't have in the U.S.

Perhaps one of these ideas will inspire you to think differently in your day-to-day life.

From the end of October through the New Year and onto Valentine's Day, it's easy to forget that the holidays we celebrate are simply cultural constructs that we can choose to engage in — or not. The concepts and ideas we celebrate — like our spiritual beliefs and daily habits — are a choice, though sometimes it feels like we "have" to celebrate them, even if we don't feel like it.

Culture is ours to do with as we choose, and that means that we can add, subtract, or edit celebrations or holidays as we see fit — because you and me and everyone reading this makes up our culture, and it is defined by us, for us, after all. 

If you want to add a new and different perspective to your life, there are plenty of other ways to recognize joy and beauty outside American traditions. From Scandinavia to Japan, India and Germany, the concepts below may strike a nerve with you and inspire your own personal or familial celebration or — as is the case with a couple of these for me — sound like an acknowledgement of something you have long felt, but didn't have a word for. 

Friluftsliv translates directly from Norwegian as "free air life," which doesn't quite do it justice. Coined relatively recently, in 1859, it is the concept that being outside is good for human beings' mind and spirit. "It is a term in Norway that is used often to describe a way of life that is spent exploring and appreciating nature," Anna Stoltenberg, culture coordinator for Sons of Norway, a U.S.-based Norwegian heritage group, told MNN. Other than that, it's not a strict definition: it can include sleeping outside, hiking, taking photographs or meditating, playing or dancing outside, for adults or kids. It doesn't require any special equipment, includes all four seasons, and needn't cost much money. Practicing friluftsliv could be as simple as making a commitment to walking in a natural area five days a week, or doing a day-long hike once a month. 

Shinrin-yoku is a Japanese term that means "forest bathing" and unlike the Norwegian translation above, this one seems a perfect language fit (though a pretty similar idea). The idea being that spending time in the forest and natural areas is good preventative medicine, since it lowers stress, which causes or exacerbates some of our most intractable health issues. As MNN's Catie Leary details, this isn't just a nice idea — there's science behind it: "The "magic" behind forest bathing boils down to the naturally produced allelochemic substances known as phytoncides, which are kind of like pheromones for plants. Their job is to help ward off pesky insects and slow the growth of fungi and bacteria. When humans are exposed to phytoncides, these chemicals are scientifically proven to lower blood pressure, relieve stress and boost the growth of cancer-fighting white blood cells. Some common examples of plants that give off phytoncides include garlic, onion, pine, tea tree and oak, which makes sense considering their potent aromas

Hygge is the idea that helps Denmark regularly rate as one of the happiest countries in the world — Danes have regularly been some of the most joyful in the world for over 40 years that the U.S. has been studying them — despite long, dark winters. Loosely translated at "togetherness," and "coziness," though it's not a physical state, it's a mental one. According toVisitDenmark (the country's official tourism site): "The warm glow of candlelight is hygge. Friends and family — that’s hygge too. And let’s not forget the eating and drinking — preferably sitting around the table for hours on end discussing the big and small things in life." Hygge's high season is winter, and Christmas lights, candles galore, and other manifestations of warmth and light, including warm alcoholic beverages, are key to the concept.

Still a little confused and wondering how you could cultivate hygge in your life? This Danish NPR commenter sums up some specifics: "Hygge is a deep sense of cosy that can originate from many different sources. Here is a good example from my life : a cloudy winter Sunday morning at the country house, fire in the stove and 20 candles lit to dispel the gloom. My husband, puppy and I curled up on our sheepskins wearing felt slippers, warm snuggly clothes and hands clasped around hot mugs of tea. A full day ahead with long walks on the cold beach, back for pancake lunch, reading, more snuggling, etc. This is a very hyggligt day." Now that sounds do-able, doesn't it? 

Wabi-sabi is the Japanese idea of embracing the imperfect, of celebrating the worn, the cracked, the patinaed, both as a decorative concept and a spiritual one — it's an acceptance of the toll that life takes on us all. As I wrote about it earlier this year, "If we can learn to love the things that already exist, for all their chips and cracks, their patinas, their crooked lines or tactile evidence of being made by someone's hands instead of a machine, from being made from natural materials that vary rather than perfect plastic, we wouldn't need to make new stuff, reducing our consumption (and its concurrent energy use and inevitable waste), cutting our budgets, and saving some great stories for future generations." We might also be less stressed, and more attentive to the details, which are the keys to mindfulness.  

Kaizen is another Japanese concept, one that means "continuous improvement," and could be taken to mean the opposite of wabi-sabi (though as you'll see, it depends on the interpretation). It's a very new idea, only coined in 1986, and generally used in business circumstances. As this tutorial details, "Kaizen is a system that involves every employee, from upper management to the cleaning crew. Everyone is encouraged to come up with small improvement suggestions on a regular basis. This is not a once a month or once a year activity. It is continuous. Japanese companies, such as Toyota and Canon, a total of 60 to 70 suggestions per employee per year are written down, shared and implemented." These are regular, small improvements, not major changes. Applied to your own life, it could mean daily or weekly check-ins about goals, as opposed to making New Year's resolutions, or a more organized path based on small changes toward weight loss, a personal project or a hobby. 

Gemütlichkeit

Gemütlichkeit is a German word that means almost the same thing as hygge, and also has its peak usage during the winter. In fact, some linguists posit that the word (and concept) of hygge likely came from the German idea. Blogger Constanze's entry on the German Language Blog for "Untranslatable German Words" describes how the word means more than just cozy: "A soft chair in a coffee shop might be considered ‘cosy’. But sit in that chair surrounded by close friends and a hot cup of tea, while soft music plays in the background, and that sort of scene is what you’d call gemütlich."

Jugaad is a Hindi word that means "an innovative fix" or a "repair derived from ingenuity," — think a jury-rigged sled for snowy fun, or a bicycle chain repaired with some duct tape. It's a frequently used word in India where frugal fixes are revered. But the idea has further merit beyond figuring out solutions to get by with less. It also encapsulates the spirit of doing something innovative. As the authors of Jugaad Innovation write in Forbes, they see jugaad in many other places than the repair shop: "In Kenya, for instance, entrepreneurs have invented a device that enables bicycle riders to charge their cellphones while pedaling. In the Philippines, Illac Diaz has deployed A Litre of Light — a recycled plastic bottle containing bleach-processed water that refracts sunlight, producing the equivalent of a 55-watt light bulb — in thousands of makeshift houses in off-the-grid shantytowns. And in Lima, Peru (with high humidity and only 1 inch of rain per year), an engineering college has designed advertising billboards that can convert humid air into potable water."

Jugaad's idea of frugal innovation can definitely be applied in the individual life — what about setting aside a half a day twice a year where everyone in your family fixes something that needs repair? You'll save money, spend time together, test problem-solving skills, and get a sense of accomplishment from repairing instead of buying new. 

Read on... See Full Article & Beautiful Visuals Here!  Seven Cultural Concepts Mother Nature Network.

Peace Journey Book Launch February 15 through Mother's Day 2015

No Time Like The Present

Staying Focused on What Matters!

Ok, so I have taken writing marketing classes, communicated with successful authors & publicists as well as social media gurus and have a pretty good handle on next steps for my book launch.  Having a small budget makes the whole process daunting, but with the help of people at Amazon,  I have decided to self-publish and get this show on the road.

I wanted to get my book out late last year, but due to a series of health issues and events, I felt the universe was telling me to wait.  And so I did.  And now, it makes sense since Peace Journey; Seven Paths to a Charmed Life is all about love and the heart, so bookending the launch starting on Valentines Day promoting through Mother's Day clearly has helped me to commit.

My life has been filled with creating PeaceJourney.com trips from scratch, no excel spreadsheet action, all trips sponsored and most importantly, listening to my intuition and trusting my instincts.  You might think this no different!  But I have found, that it is different and the reason why?  It's because it is so personal to write a book and share a piece of yourself, your story and your views.  

Soon, I will be launching a CrowdFunding Campaign so that everyone who cares about our success can participate in it!  

I look forward to an amazing campaign, with your help and the help of your heart! 

Jeannette Barcelos Kravitz (Facebook)

Supported by PeaceSpaProducts.org (Facebook & Website)

Celebrities & Artist I Want To Thank for Their Inspiration This Season

Touched by Angels in the Arts

This holiday season I am reminded and grateful for the angels of art who have graced my life in painting, photography, storytelling, dance, songwriting, musicians, singers, promoters and producers who make it all possible for the world and whose work has deeply touched my life.  

I have to start with my father, who played and sang beautifully, accompanied by his soul, his heart and his guitar;  actress Dolores Hart who chose God over Hollywood, and depicted her story in a documentary titled "God Is The Bigger Elvis"; John Lennon's songwriting including IMAGINE,  The Flying Laser Guitarist Graham Gillot and  HyperHarp Jeff Grossberg who light up the world with music and light creations; Little Feat who rocked for PeaceJourney Hawaii on 4-islands in 5 days to help us bring computer labs to the islands and that included Ben Taylor (Peace Journey Trips documentary) and  son of James Taylor; Yuri Lane beatbox extraordinaire who recently performed on the Steve Harvey Show and who through his beats, connects our hearts; and Sandro Miller, photographer, who just won the Lucie Award for Best International Photographer of the Year; and Peter Exley and his wife Sharon with their amazing work to beautify the world through architecture and the arts. And Ben Mugisha, Rwandan Hip Hop sensation, Helene Henn, South African singer, Peyton Tochterman a rising star n the American Roots Music and traveler to Afghanistan in support of our troops through the State Departmen, Mimi Machado-Luces film and documentary producer, and Rocco Cataldo, who helps me make sense of the world of music and film through his own art!   Learn more about them here:  Bios at Peace Journey  And Richard Cahan, photographer, who bravely traveled and documented in the West Bank this year.  His photo display titled Night Raid can be seen now at  Art Works in River North-Chicago, Illinois thru December 15th 2014.

There are many people who have touched my life, who I know are there to step up to make this world better, but now in the latter part of 2014, finding out about so many local people and the beauty they bring to the earth has touched my heart, and reopened my creative senses,  which can only enhance our next Peace Journey adventures 2015, and the good we can all do for the world.  

Happy Holidays as you learn more about these amazing people. 

Movies & Arts Review: Wild, Starring Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern

WILD

This movie is a reminder of the bond between a mom and her daughter and in this case, the sad reality involved in not knowing what you have until it's lost.  I loved it, and recommend the great performances. Based on the true story of Cheryl Strayed.

This movie, Wild, did not affect me in the way I thought it might.  My perception after seeing the movie trailer, was I would relate more to Reese Witherspoon's character of Cheryl Strayed, but instead, I was drawn to the mother played by Laura Dern  who is the soul of the movie.  

I thought I would cry for Reese, since this true story was one of a mentally, self-tortured young woman who, after losing her mom, took on a 1,100 mile challenge to hike across the Pacific Crest Trail in a quest to answer burning self-depricating issues, including her obsession with drugs and sex.  In the end, she comes to true realizations about her life, but nothing phony or presumptuous.   

Through flashbacks in the movie, her mom, Bobbie Strayed,  who Cheryl says is 'the love of my life",  did everything she could with little to no money to keep joy, happiness, a roof overhead and hope in their lives.

Bobbi Strayed sang when they had little money or food to eat.  She worked and went back to high school in an attempt to gain knowledge of the world and a brighter future for her children.  She had breakfast and dinner on the table everyday and was present with hugs and a smile for Cheryl and younger son.  And, she dealt with the pervasive guilt of the physically abusive man she married and father of her children.  After one too many nights of being knocked around, she left and took the kids with her in the middle of the night.

Through it all, Cheryl Strayed never really saw her mother for the courageous, unselfish woman she was, who put her children before everything in life.  She didn't see the truth until it was too late.  

Being a single mother is a most difficult job, especially when money is at issue everyday. To have a mother who kept joy alive in the face of it all, to me, is the story of the strength of a truly ethereal, optimistic woman.  And now, her spirit and love of life lives on in the hearts of her children.

Jeannette Barcelos Kravitz

Sponsorship For Causes Makes Big Difference in Consumer Purchases

Isn't It Time to Step Up, Using Our Purchasing Power to Make the World Better?

1. "Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems. A trade-off may exist between economic development, in the material sense, and the welfare of the society and environment."

   Peace Journey Productions is now on our quest for the best and most socially responsible companies to work with.

   Let's face it, very, very few of any of us wake up in the morning thinking of ways to destroy the planet, our families, animals and neighbors.  In fact, for most thank goodness, it's exactly the opposite.  

   It is difficult to keep up with corporations and small businesses who stand out in the world for good, isn't it?  

   In my personal quest to find out the Who's Who -- Best Of  in the area of corporate social responsibility,  I am sharing this report from MacLeans Inc.  There may be many more lists that you find so please post your list below in the comments and we can share more of this good news with the world.  While this list is for larger companies, I would be remiss to not include the social responsibility by now of our key sponsors, PeaceSpaProducts.org

   All I know is 15 or 20 years ago,  one would be hard-pressed to find companies rated and reported on as the top companies in this category, and now through Google and other search engines, information is so readily available.

   This makes the process of choosing where to spend our dollars in our hands.  And there is no better time than the present, during the holiday season! 

   Choosing the top rated socially conscious companies to buy from means we still have to do our homework and be sure that the stories aren't just public relations stunts, but at least we have a guidepost for information gathering.

   
   

   Jeannette Barcelos Kravitz

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

PEACE JOURNEY Seven Paths Venue Search for Songwriting Camp 2015 Underway

PEACE JOURNEY Venue Search Taking Us Down More than Seven-Paths!

www.peacejourney.com

Saturday was a day-trip for us to look at a farm music event venue for our upcoming songwriting/concert camp, on a very cold and blustery early fall Illinois day. 

Stonehouse Farm is only 1 hour and a half from downtown Chicago, but working 2-GPS systems simultaneously gave us two different directions to go in.  We decided to chose the road less traveled, adding another 45 glorious country road minutes to our drive.

Cornfields were abundant.  After a few years working at sponsorKIDS to promote healthy food in our local schools, I learned about all the corn that is being grown for sucrose in Illinois, eliminating many other crops that could be grown for food.  All I can tell you is growing up in Ohio with it's abundant cornfields, I have never seen as many cornfields as on the back roads trip to Stonehouse Farm near Sandwich, Illinois. 

We passed a small sign announcing Stonehouse Farm and immediately pulled in.  We first noticed that the farm's wood fences on the property needed repair and a coat of creosote or paint.  Following the driveway to the front porch of a mid-size barn-like structure,  we walked inside, where we found  a chef preparing food for that nights sweat lodge.  We sat down to enjoy coffee and meet the primary owner.  The building was rustic and cozy.

I had read about Yurts, the temporary tent structures around the farm that sleep 2 to 8 people each, depending on the size.  These are the only accommodations currently available outside acres of campsites on the premises. Rachel, the assistant in charge of events (oh and by the way, also an anthropologist and gourmet French Chef),  drove us around the property in a bright yellow one-seater golf cart as we viewed the campgrounds, garden and compost area, overnight parking for 500 cars, newly constructed showers, the pond, a sweat lodge, a large area where a stage can be erected, a grassy field large enough to accommodate up to 2,500 music concert goers on the lawn and barns, where yoga and other performances could be held.

The actual Stonehouse Farm four-bedroom house is to be rehabbed, but it doesn't sound like that will be completed in time for our event in 2015

Our songwriting camp needs to house about 30 to 40 people plus our production crew, and Stonehouse Farm would be a rustic choice with a lot of hidden costs. 

But I keep thinking that the best creativity happens when we are close to nature. And I also remember Woodstock, although this would be a much smaller and less celebrity driven undertaking.  So, I am getting out the spreadsheet and seeing how viable this venue might be for 2015.   

I do know this: the spirit of the land is amazing and it just felt good to meet people so grounded in what matters for the use of the land. On the way back, we drove past Aurora University.  It's beautiful and I understand they have a fine music school there that could be an asset to our project.  

So the search for the perfect home for Peace Journey Seven Paths songwriting camp and concert continues. Please leave a message if you know another location like Stonehouse Farm, a spiritual retreat,  or a venue that collectively cares about community and nature, in and around the Midwest and within 3 to 5 hours from Chicago that might work for us in 2015.  

I have no choice but to run down parallel paths looking for just the right home. And it's fun to explore all the options as this important decision will lead us to find what we hope will become a permanent and annual home for us to live, create and breath for peace.  

We are charting our next Peace Journey Adventure Trip 2016 to Peru where we will explore with high school students the amazing rain forest and indigenous people as we work on a deeper connection with the earth.  Stay tuned. 

Thank you. 
Jeannette Barcelos Kravitz
jkravitz@peacejourney.com

www.peacejourney.com

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