A blessing is a “benediction” or “good words.” In this turbulent year of changes, we all need a blessing to lighten our day.

Free Blessings from the Tree of Life is a special artist's project for 2009 by Jennie Chien, this year's Visual Artist winner of the Rockland County Executive's Award. If you live in Rockland County, New York, you will be able to take a free blessing from any one of 10 containers sited in public community areas in the county. The blessings are printed on translucent paper and tied with a red waxed cord.

The blessings are based on sayings and quotations from different cultures. Despite many origins, blessings address needs that all people have for a good life. Despite surface differences, we are alike in our hearts.

In December, a Tree of Life sculpture, made of twisted aluminum armature wire and hung with more paper blessings, will be exhibited at the Rockland Center for the Arts. An event is planned to celebrate the end of a difficult 2009 and the beginning of a hopeful 2010. The exhibit runs from December 6, 2009 to January 16, 2010. A celebratory opening will be Saturday, December 6 from 12 to 2 PM.

For those who do not live in Rockland County, free blessings are posted on this site's blog and updated regularly. To go to the blog, click on the tab above or here Free Blessing Home.

If you wish, you may also email me a blessing for the Tree, add a comment to an existing blessing on the blog, or use the form under the tab above or here Contribute a Blessing.