meditate

Peace in Staring

/ KimberlyEmilia / Leave a comment
Nature & The Outdoors by Lafayette Wattles is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0

Our breakfast nook has a huge French door that I completely hate. It’s drafty because the door is old and I want to change it. We’re not redoing the kitchen any time soon, so it’s something we’ve decided to live with for now.

As is the case with most things I hate or that drive me crazy, there is peace to be found, if I’m willing to stop and wait and watch.

This morning, the sun came out. It’s still pretty cold in our neck of the woods (below 30 degrees in the morning) but the birds were chirping and the sky looked super blue. And all of my kids sat at the breakfast table staring out that huge French door.

I couldn’t help but picture my paternal grandfather (since passed) who used to spend hours sitting in front of his living room windows, in a tan club chair, wearing a man’s white undershirt and slacks. He lived in the Catskills with my grandmother, on a 5 acre parcel of land where he liked to grow vegetables and invite friends to stay.

Much of my childhood, I can only picture the man either outside with a hat or inside, staring at the vast nature in front of him. There were no other houses, buildings, or people visible from his window. He could only see birds, deer, the occasional fox, and lots of butterflies.

This morning, my little family chewed its breakfast in silence. Every little person stared out the window and took in– who knows what. The road below us? The cars traveling to work and school? The birds skipping between branches? The brilliant sky? The swaying trees? The budding leaves on our maple trees?

The what is not so important as the why.

We stare because it is so peaceful. It’s so comforting. It’s so lovely. I hope you can start your day with the same kind of peace. This morning, I was thankful for the peace, the quiet, and the memory of other times when such peace was present: in the Catskills with an old man and his soft but enduring presence.

What brought you peace this week? Share the peace.

Peace in Releasing the Past

/ KimberlyEmilia / Leave a comment
Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Pexels.com

This week I found myself snuggled up reading in what my kids call “living room number 2.” I was reading The Valkyries by Paulo Coelho and came across a passage that felt like a real show stopper. He writes,

“…once an animal trainer had told him how he was able to keep his elephants under control. The animals, as infants, were bound by chains to a log. They would try to escape, but could not. They tried throughout their entire infancy, but the log was stronger than they were.

So they became accustomed to captivity. And when they were finally huge and strong, all the trainer had to do was place the chain around one of their legs and anchor it anywhere– even to a twig– and they would not attempt to escape. They were prisoners of their past (p 172).”

This was just insane to read. Of course, Coelho offers this imagery as a metaphor for human beings. But more on that in a moment.

Firstly, I did not know this about elephants. Secondly, adaptation to or acceptance of captivity seemed just crazy. I read a little more about elephants living in captivity and learned that (1) nearly 1/3 of African elephants live their entire lives in captivity and (2) they remain relatively undomesticated, despite their captivity.

I wasn’t planning to learn about elephants. I was reading to learn about humanity and healing and forgiving the past. But this made me think: if something as grant and wild and wonderful as an elephant can accept a non-reality like captivity, just think what human beings might do.

But humans aren’t elephants. We can recognize patterns and realities and make change.

Today, I meditated on releasing the past. On letting go. On forgiving and forgetting things that have upset me, or those I have upset. I can release myself from whatever mental “captivity” I’ve embraced over the years.

Letting go brings me peace.

You know what else might bring me peace? Saving an elephant. I’m looking into it.

What brought you peace this week? Share the peace!

Peace in A Good Read

/ KimberlyEmilia / Leave a comment

Sometimes when I have too much to do, it feels like the perfect time to drop everything and read in the living room.

This sounds completely counterintuitive. And counterproductive. And selfish, maybe. But I have been trying to get through Paulo Coelho’s The Valkyries and I had finally had enough of waiting to “get to it!”

I set up LM3 with her barnyard and farm animals. I got out the Fisher Price camper and a few extra Little People for good measure. Then, I chose our cozy red recliner and hunkered down with a fleece blanket.

I read for an hour. And guess what happened next?

I powered through the other tasks on deck like a monkey on crack.

BOOM!

BANG!

ZAP!

I rocked my Honey-Do list like a maniac. Everything got done, and I somehow carved in an extra hour for myself. Instead of starting with my list of less-than-desirable tasks, I started my day with a total treat.

What a peaceful morning! What an awesome way to rock the the week. My recommendation is that you treat yourself, too. Because, why not?

What brought you peace this week? What are you reading? Share the peace!