Things To Bring Peace

What brings you peace?

The peace that comes after a swim in a lake, river or the ocean, when allowing your body dry naturally in the hot sun.

The peace of an animal friend placing their paw or head on your lap, in a quiet moment together.

The peace of knowing that you did your best at doing something, even if the outcome wasn’t what you wanted.

The peace of a gentle moment of silence between good friends or with your lover that doesn’t need to be filled.  

The peace of realising you’re getting older but that doesn’t matter as much as it used to.

The peace of making a loaf, cake or something else that rises melts or changes in shape and smell and anticipating eating it.

The peace of working your body hard with physical labour and going into your home after to rest.

The peace of resuming a book that you love and relish and never want to end.

The peace of working and living beside someone who gets you, even the ugly parts of you, and still loves you anyway.

The peace of the first blossom buds poking through after a long and bitter winter.

The peace of rustling trees waving as though gesturing hello to you in the wind.

The peace of a piece of music that transports you to a time and place of pure joy.

The peace of forgiving someone who did something horrible to you. Not for them but for yourself and your own state of mind.

The peace of a daydream reverie and staring into the distance.

The peace of crystals shimmering in the sun.

The peace of experiencing a piece of art or a film or a book that makes you realise you’re not alone in the world.

The peace of doing the work you love to do.

The peace of learning something new or being surprised by something new.

The peace that comes from connecting with living beings of the non-human variety: plants and animals.

The peace of seeing the vastness of the Milky Way at night and knowing that you are so tiny and insignificant, yet so complex and individual like a spark of light from an eternal fire.

I’m aware that peace is a privilege that only we in peaceful Western countries get to enjoy.

However, that as we speak, bullets rain down in other places, people are being starved, bombed and killed in Palestine and barely a ripple of it reaches the news. This is because the corrupt system that has decided that these lives are worth less than others.

These 30 things are dedicated to the people who may not experience peace in their lifetimes. May they look to the sky and the sun and know there are people out there far away who wish only peace and love for them. May that prayer for the Palestinian people carry now and reverberate well into the future forever.