The Serenity Project is a compilation of songs, poems, stories, letters, essays, photographs, and drawings that express a feeling of inner peace. The postings for this project are contributed from various inner-peace makers, ranging in age from 5 to 100--or even younger and older. The idea for this project came from a project I found online, called the Peace Project, which encourages artists of all ages to contribute literature and pictures that promote world peace. My project, on the other hand, invites participants to promote inner peace, a serenity within ourselves. The goal of sites such as these is to get people to take time out of their busy lives and reflect on the beauty and grace bestowed upon us. When we reach the euphoric peace within us, we live and love life, not only enhancing the quality of our own lives but touching the lives of those around us as well.

Why did I choose this project? This transcendental project persuades the participant to search his soul for ways to express what gives him or her a feeling of serenity. That in itself should be enough of a reason. But this project serves more of a purpose than that. It is usable in a variety of settings. Teachers and students of English, psychology, journalism, art, health, technology, etc., can use this project as a supplement to their lessons in related context. And beyond educational use, this project can serve as a healing tool to anyone who may stumble on it somehow. The question maybe should be "why not choose this project?"

In order to contribute to the project, one must simply go to the Serenity Project at http://students.ed.uiuc.edu/mapes/Serenity_Project and follow the directions on the home page:

1. From the home page, click on one of the links to post an essay, a poem, or a picture.
2. The new page will give you instructions on how to post your contribution.
• For an essay or a poem, you will be asked to give your name (as you would like it to appear on the site), your age (if desired), the poem or essay's original author's name, your email address, and the title of the poem or essay before actually writing the content of the poem into a text field. Then push the submit button.
• For a picture, you will simply click on the email link and attach the picture(s) that you want to contribute.
3. That's it. Not too hard, eh? Upon the submission of your contribution, I will receive it in email format and copy and paste it into the site within 48 hours of its receipt for all to enjoy its insight and ingenuity.