Thursday, January 15, 2009

Talk Thursday: Serenity Now

I think my mother said it best, just this evening as I bemoaned (What? Me whine?) that I had no idea what I was going to do with this week’s topic. So what the wise woman of Florence said was this…

“Serenity comes from within.”

Most everything wise I learned, I learned from her (the rest I learned from my daughter.) Simple, concise, spot on. Serenity comes from within.

Yes, our lives contain periods of harried chaos. Moments where we can couldn’t find tranquility if we splashed smack into the of a sea of it – tranquility that is, not chaos.

Digression…Is there a Sea of Chaos? Enquiring minds what to know.

Back to the contemplation of serenity…Why, because that is life. It’s because we can’t turn off the chaos that holds our attention in that moment, that space of time where we are besieged by conflict, emotions, and dilemmas. At least not until the forces of chaos are momentarily pacified, rectified, or sterilized. And then we take our toys and we go home.

We (I know there is more than just me out there) home builders who construct our homes to create havens, idealic (not a real word – but it’s what I mean) settings where we can run away from our daily strife and find serenity. We create cozy corners, quite courtyards, lush gardens that take us outside our workaday worlds. But that doesn’t mean we find serenity. It means that I find a heart that listens then quietly shares a hot tub with me starring at the stars.

Because serenity is not a place, it is a state of being. I am sublimely happy when I am in my hot tub in the dark, the wind blowing in the trees, stars brilliant in the sky above. I am at peace, serene inside my heart, inside my skin as I contemplate things in the universe much bigger than me, bigger than the problems of the day, secrets deep and unfathomable.

Being in hot water with someone, who loves both the best and worst of me, makes serenity that much easier.

Sith,
Cele

2 comments:

foundinidaho said...

I think there is a Sea of Chaos and I'm living in it with leaky boat and no life jacket. I need to do more to create serenity in my life. Your hot tub description sounds yummy. Of course, you do live in a beautiful neck of the woods.

Angie K. Millgate said...

I am appreciating that I read this piece and experienced your hot tub with you and I ESPECIALLY love the last line. Beautiful.