serenity

                        

Recently I stayed the night at a small farm. At my daughters’, actually. I had been incredibly stressed, & just needed to "get away". As I drove in through the farm gates, between rows of trees, past 4 ponies, I could feel the stress slipping away. Scenarios like this immediately put my mind into slow-motion mode. You know, those moments when time & space slow down, when you can see the leaves on the trees slowly rustle, when the sun creates shafts of light between the trees, when you can see the looks in the ponies’ eyes (4 ponies, & each looks sneakily naughty) as you drive slowly past.

When I got out of the car, time was still. I could feel a soft breeze, the air was fresh, clean, & I had time to gaze at bumble bees doing their thing amongst tall pink flowers.

Little moments in eternity.

The next morning, I awoke to the paradox of stillness, & busyness. No sound of cars. No anxiety. And yet, things were happening. The trees were still gently moving creating a sound that I love so much: the rustle of leaves. I could hear the chickens & other birds. I knew that nature was up & all the insects, all the farm animals, had started their day. I soaked up the moment.

When I finally, reluctantly, left, back to a highway, cars, etc, I started reflecting on serenity. Something so lacking in so many lives. Our lives now are so busy, sometimes I feel that we almost have to diary moments for serenity. I meditate often, which does indeed create serenity, but in recent years, I came to realise that it wasn’t enough, our lifestyles are vastly improved when we have it included in our lives.

I moved house a few months ago. I desperately wanted to wake in silence, to have trees around, birds, flowers. To be able to sleep with windows open & not worry about burglars. To watch the sun rise, to be able to see the moon & sky at nights. My whole psyche was aching for it. I finally found somewhere to live that had all that I wanted. It’s not perfect, but it is perfect for now, to give me serenity space.

I am looking at other ways to reintroduce more serenity into my life. I know that walking to & from places creates maybe not serenity, but definitely happiness, & that I want to simplify my life so that I can fit this in. I know that eating nice, simple, clean food, helps our body/mind complex be more in harmony, as do regular sleep patterns & being with friends & family. But actually, I am also looking past all this, to the type of other things that I had been craving. Sitting outside in the sun…yes, yes, I know that we are not supposed to, but I miss it, & there is always late afternoon & early morning when the sun is not so lethal. Meditating under the stars. Walking through the bush. Walking along the seashore. Doing nothing & being in that moment. All of these are pushed to the side when we are always busy.

I realise that for me, serenity has to do with being in nature. That might not be your thing. But some things in life, will be just right for you to have serenity. It is so worth including it in our lives. What in your life already gives you serenity? What is missing that you know brings you deep peace? Can you include it again in your life?  Serenity is worth it, sometimes our lives are just so frantic that we just have to accept that, for now, that frantic-ness is just the way that things are. My 3 children, whether they knew it or not, always had opportunity for quiet time, to pause. They all had a period in their lives, & I so wish that it had been longer periods, where they ran with the wind, played outside till it was dark, played in the rain, laughed in the ocean, climbed trees. It was easy after all that happy activity for them to slip into a more serene mode when it was quiet time. Sometimes that’s all we need too: activity followed by a pause, a moment in time.