The Autumn Leaves
The leaves in New England were terrific this year. Returning from my annual writer’s retreat in Maine with my wo-mentor poet Elizabeth McKim, I reflect on the turning of the leaves. It is hypnotic; they let go and blaze with color. I found sixty different colors in the leaves! So delightful and satisfying for the eye!
April 2021: It’s Spring, and the Green Goes Over and Over…
Spring enters with her 10,000 shades of green, and sweeps away the winter chill and last summer's browns. Photo Wes Chester BY:Judith Greer Essex Ph.D. LMFT, ADTR, REAT Founding Director, Expressive Arts Institute The Green Goes Over and Over It is irrepressible. The daffodils come springing out, green shoots and leaf buds appear overnight. I want to forestall spring and
2021: Maintaining Hope in the Year(s) of Living Dangerously -Wes Chester, MA CAGS- Director, Expressive Arts Institute
January 1st, 2021 As I look back across the nearly six decades of my life, I can never remember a time when I felt so circumspect about wishing everyone “Happy” New Year’s. It seems almost wrong. I don't want to put pressure on people right now to feel "happy." So many are grieving the loss of jobs, homes, family
Applied Gratitude 101: Thanks Are for Giving
This year's trip to Yosemite for Thanksgiving left me filled with gratitude for family and friends, and the majesty of our western landscape. Photo by Wes Chester Applied Gratitude 101: Here are just a few ways of giving thanks in the season of gratitude, and celebrating the roles we play for each other in community. Be personal. Make time for
02 min. 26 sec. – Reflections on the Image of the Totality
A few weeks have passed since viewing my first total eclipse of the sun, I am still trying to find words adequate to describe the experience. I must begin by acknowledging that words are not adequate. Nor are the photographs I took an adequate documentation of the experience. In the end, photographs are just a pale visual