by Kelly Engaldo

Created on: October 13, 2009   Last Updated: October 15, 2009

Where is Serenity? Peace, Calmness, God?

An outstanding world renowned consultant (www.jameseckblad.com) spoke this weekend about where he finds his serenity. The example he gave was a beautiful lithograph of a small child's park in the middle of Central Park set inside one of the largest cities in the world New York City. This simple child's park with its teeter totter and one family enjoying the serenity of God's creation was a place of refuge both in his office and in his mind. He shared with us that it was this Central Park scene that gave him courage and resilience to continue in a chaotic and very aggressive field of a trail attorneys. He attributed his outstanding success to the calmness that he found in that very painting that he shared with us. When other attorneys marveled at his trial attorney successes, he confided to us, his success was built upon an unflappable focus derived from the symbolism and serenity provided by that piece of artwork.

His talk began a mental journey for me. Where is serenity?

Artwork and movies have long been a source of serenity for me. As a supporter and board member of the Women's' Art Board of the Rockford Art Museum, I urge you to take advantage of your local art museum.

What do I love about art? To me, much like the movies, art transcends me spiritually; it takes me to a better place. For me, like that former trial attorney now consultant, serenity is found in art and many different visuals. Some visuals are movies; some visuals for me are moments taken from a movie.

My Grandfather taught me over and over again To get my education, they can never take it away from you. Of course, Grandfather was absolutely correct and I diligently spent decades learning and acquiring professional certifications and degrees. But artwork and the movies are also something that stays with us, becomes interwoven into the very being we become.

Many years ago some young girls who would visit me and my famous and sometimes infamous Golden Retrievers came to my new home in another suburb in Chicago. One of their first comments was that I brought a specific painting with me. It was a painting of a room with a black piano. I thought their comment was so funny. I wouldn't leave my beloved pets behind no more than I would leave a painting behind let alone the special memories that painting represented. It was a simple small painting that reminded me of a movie perhaps you too have seen this movie An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant. The painting is reminiscent to me of the room where Cary Grant visited with his Grandmother. It was a memorable scene that I wanted to retain forever. Many years later, I found a painting in Lake Geneva, WI that reminded me of that room where Cary Grant visited with his Grandmother. Of course, this is the painting the girls loved and were so pleasantly surprised that I brought with me.

All of us need a piece of serenity to take with us. Visit your local art museum this month. Find your special place, engrave that place upon your mind and take that special piece of artwork, that special memory you have with you into life's turbulent pathways.

Where is serenity?

It is a moment frozen in time when a special someone says that they love you.

It is a walk in the beautiful sunshine of Fall.

It is in the painting reminiscent of special moments, great emotions, and fond memories.

It is great pieces of art that move our spirit, transcends our mind, allows us to connect fully and freely, unfettered by the world around us.

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