offer an olive branch.
It’s not always easy to feel peaceful—even lying in a hammock or taking a walk doesn’t necessarily alleviate the tightness and stress that irritate our well-being. Peace is such a tremendously important feeling, however. It helps us to digest better, to sleep better, and to love more deeply. How can we feel peaceful? Yes, we can try breathing, meditating, and clearing space for stillness. Another way is to offer an olive branch to someone else. Most warring upsetness is engendered by feelings of separation, distrust, or fear. When we reach out to someone in kindness, forgiveness, and gratitude, we immediately feel more peaceful. (By the way, the first olive tree was created by the goddess Athena: She was competing for the role of protector of the newly-built city, and the citizens promised to name the city after the god or goddess who gave them the most valuable gift. With her spear, she struck a rock which produced an olive tree, promising peace and abundance. The olive branch thus became a symbol of peace. One of the hospitality traditions of the ancient Greeks was to offer a small phial of olive oil to strangers. Paintings and statues of Pax, the Roman goddess of peace, show her holding out an olive branch. On the Great Seal of the United States (as we can see on a $1 bill) the eagle clasps an olive branch in its right talon (yes, arrows in its left).