My favorite time of the day is that part of the morning right after I have made my first cup of coffee and am standing outside in the early morning light, while our dog Daisy goes about her morning business.
Although it is probably an illusion — in the absolute sense — the air around me feels and sounds quieter then, because the "industry of the world" hasn't really started up yet... whether it be people working on landscaping or delivery vans or garbage trucks, or whatever.
In spite of the fact that many of us are operating under some form of mandated restrictions or lockdowns, the greater world has felt very noisy to me — "unquiet," if you will — for the past 5-6 years.
Yes, it has always felt loud to me, but it seems like the "loud" has become more jarring, caustic and spiky.
"Unquiet" is hard to describe, exactly... but it feels like the background atmosphere and energy that comes immediately before a major storm, except it seems like it's a state that never ends, and that expected storm never actually comes, as a result of which much energy pours into a pervasive sense of "being in a state of high alert and preparedness because of the imminent storm."
Being in a near-constant state of readiness for something to happen is exhausting; at least it is, to me.
But it mostly seems to exist purely at a feeling level.
Today, though, there was an example of a physical space manifestation, though... our neighbors a couple of houses over having a "yelling match" in their back yard. Actually, our neighbor has a friend staying; the friend is staying in her RV and they were having some kind of argument... enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.
I found myself wishing for a bit of personal peace.
I also found myself thinking back to some of the very early thoughts from my childhood... of being a very quiet little kid and not understanding why the adults around me just couldn't get along.
"Noise" in our environment takes a lot of different forms. For me, one of the more wearing forms of noise is the kind associated with the idea of "signal vs. noise." It's the noise that sometimes makes it almost impossible to get to news, information or something you need... because it is surrounded by so much distracting clutter you have to sort through, in order to find what you're really looking for.
Sometimes I'm really not surprised I became somewhat of a hermit!
The thing I gradually came to realize was that the only way I could feel reasonably at peace was to engage in activities to took all my attention, and generally did not involve other people. I do recognize that to be a very introverted thing, and that lots of extraverted people get their energy and well-being from socializing.
My moments of personal peace, however, come when I am alone... typically working on my art, with just enough music that it masks the sounds of the external world. I find similar peace when working in the vegetable garden... yes, I "talk to plants!"
My favorite type of meditation is actually a walking meditation on the beach. How so? The wave sounds serve as a very effective "white noise generator" that allows me to be present in the moment, without being distracted by sudden background sounds.
During these times when it seems like we are almost constantly living in a state of uncertainty from one moment to the next, it becomes especially important to make time for our moments of Personal Peace. We might not be able to do much about our Unquiet World, but we can make it a priority to cultivate our personal peace.
Thanks for reading and have a great remainder of your week!
How about YOU? Do you ever sense the world being "unquiet?" How do you find personal peace in places that are always filled with noise? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT cross posted anywhere else!)
Created at 20210908 23:33 PST
0339/1581