A Peace of My Mind

Julissa Arce

September 6, 2017 by johnnoltner

Julissa Arce came to the United States when she was 11 years old and became undocumented at age 14 when her visa expired. She paid for a college education by operating a funnel cake stand and graduated with a degree in finance. Using false papers, Julissa landed an internship at Goldman Sachs, was offered a full-time job, and was eventually promoted to vice president. Today Julissa is an American citizen and advocates for immigration reform. “I believe that it’s in gratitude that you […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: American, California, citizenship, DACA, fear, freedom, hollywood, identity, immigrant, immigration, jobs, undocumented, wall street

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Holden Village 2.0

September 4, 2017 by johnnoltner

It’s easy to reach out to those you feel comfortable around. Compassion comes easy in those circles. But we tend to place ourselves in a bubble. We surround ourselves with those who look like us, live like us, and voted like us in the last election cycle. If we hope to bridge any of the divides that exist in our country (or even the divides that we perceive to exist) it is important that we reach out to those who […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: art, Blog, conversation, dialog, faith, Holden, humanity, learning, photography, privilege, religion, travel, washington

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Coming down the mountain

August 31, 2017 by johnnoltner

I was at Holden Village last month when I heard the news. A mosque in my hometown of Bloomington, Minnesota had been bombed. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. I saw photos of the bomb’s damage in the national media, and those photos were taken by a friend. In the footage of the crowd that gathered, I saw people I knew, and they were friends. A few days later I saw social media posts about hundreds of people who come together at […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: holden village, interfaith, light, peace

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Holden Village

August 25, 2017 by johnnoltner

For two weeks this month we had one of our exhibits at Holden Village, a remote, intentional community tucked into a beautiful wilderness valley of Washington’s Cascade Mountains. It’s the third time I’ve been to Holden, and each time I take away new lessons. Each time I decide to stay longer the next time. I don’t think of it as a retreat. Yes, you get away from some of the hectic pace of daily life. You remove yourself from the […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: advocate, ally, Holden, learn, listen, peace, support, vulnerable

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Peg Carlson-Hoffman

August 23, 2017 by johnnoltner

Peg Carlson-Hoffman is co-director of Holden Village with her husband, Chuck Hoffman. Holden is a faith-based intentional community nestled in a remote valley of Washington’s North Cascades, accessible by a 30-mile boat ride and a 10-mile gravel road. Peg and Chuck create art around conflict and healing. They lead creativity workshops with people who have historically experienced conflict as a way to build relationships. “The beauty of art has always been that it doesn’t use words. The visual arts give us another way to communicate […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: art, collaboration, communication, conflict, holden village, relationship, resolution, washington

Heather Ehle

August 3, 2017 by johnnoltner

Heather Ehle is executive director of Project Sanctuary, a program designed to help military families heal. With no military background herself, Heather saw families struggling to readjust to civilian life after deployments. She now coordinates retreats, centered in Colorado, to reconnect families and give them support to thrive. Heather describes herself as politically agnostic, which she defines as “having been to Washington one too many times.” “I believe that everybody innately knows what they need in order to be happy and […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: Colorado, counselor, family, granby, heal, hope, listening, veteran

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Travel and see

July 28, 2017 by johnnoltner

I’ve always loved my work as a travel photographer. For me, it dovetails perfectly with the work of A Peace of My Mind. When we visit new places…when we get outside of our comfort zone…we learn to see the world in new ways. It’s good to step out of our routine and open our eyes to other possibilities. For the past three weeks, we were fortunate to travel with good friends through Europe. After a busy few years building A […]

Categories: Blog • Tags: drought, europe, italy, peace, photography, refugee, scotland, travel

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Shai Littlejohn

July 27, 2017 by johnnoltner

Shai Littlejohn was trained as a lawyer and worked at a firm in Washington, D.C., until she decided she wanted to be “free of schedules, free of being tied to a clock, of needing to have a hierarchy of titles and income.” Shai went back to school to pursue her love of music and now balances her time between practicing law and working as a country singer and songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. “I don’t have to regret all those dreams that went unfulfilled.” When […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: belief, content, freedom, nashville, sacrifice, songwriter, tennessee

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Matt Meyer

June 27, 2017 by johnnoltner

Matt Meyer is a teacher, author, and peace activist born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He is a longtime member of the War Resisters League and was founding chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Association. Matt views the status quo as unjust and believes that an international movement of radical social change is required to create lasting peace in the world. “Dr. King talked in the last years of his life about the need for a true revolution against militarism, racism, […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: Brooklyn, change, diversity, justice, movement, New York, revolution, war

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Leroy Sullivan

June 20, 2017 by johnnoltner

Leroy Sullivan has been the mayor of Donaldsonville, Louisiana, since March 2004. Prior to serving as mayor, Leroy worked at a local chemical plant and was burned over 50 percent of his body in an explosion at the plant. He spent 37 days in a burn unit. Donaldsonville has a population of 7,436, but he says its residents experience the same struggles as larger cities: poverty, drug abuse, violence, and murder. “If we just dare to help one another, to love one another, to treat […]

Categories: Podcast • Tags: community, crime, donaldsonville, elders, louisiana, poverty, respect

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	johnnoltner on Tyrone Werts
	Tammy Wall on Tyrone Werts
	MaryAnne Gale on Peg Carlson-Hoffman
	johnstevenhergert on Peg Carlson-Hoffman
	Julianne on A Guided Tour

A Peace of My Mind

Exploring the meaning of peace, one story at a time.

what does peace mean to you?

Julissa Arce

Holden Village 2.0

Coming down the mountain

Holden Village

Peg Carlson-Hoffman

Heather Ehle

Travel and see

Shai Littlejohn

Matt Meyer

Leroy Sullivan