Serenity.
Has it become one of those well worn words, or does it still have a purity to it that goes beyond a bath oil essence? We do our very best to market it or bottle it or even sell it in dark alleys. We hang posters of it in our family rooms or offices. We sniff it, spread it, sit in it, injest it. We have turned it into a mission statement for all recovering human beings and yet do most people really know what it means and how it really feels? Gee, I'm sure we've even made porn movies starring someone named Serenity. Condoms? Is there a serenity brand? Probably, along with a dozen or so sex toys all promoting a trip to serenity. I'm not saying that one can't find serenity after a rousing romp of steamy sex, but is that serenity or simply exhaustion after a release of pent up hormones?
Hmmmmm...........good question, Awareness! Anyone have an answer to that one?
Have we mimicked the word too much to save it from the the overused word dumpster? Does it mean anything anymore?
Serenity. It's still one of my most favourite words......though it's not one I use often in my daily life. Probably because serenity and daily life don't seem to merge on a regular basis. But this week, the word kept harmonizing in my head as I tried to strip away the fog of stress. It was like a mantra replaying over and over in my thinking.....was I trying too hard? I don't think so, because there were several times which I tried to ignore it's tune. As much as I wanted to feel serene, I didn't want it to be forced.
Calm cool quiescence........the warm encompassing feeling as one watches a beautiful summer sunset after a wonderfully charged day. It seems to soak into our pores like a salve or a lotion which moisturizes our parched skin when we've been away from recognizing beauty of the world around us. After our long winters, one amazing sunset can realign our universe and leave us understanding serenity more deeply....and longing for more.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change......and to recognize that peace can be everlasting.
God grant me the courage and wisdom to know the difference of what I can and cannot change.
Though it can't be forced, serenity is really all around us if we just take the time to slip into it's magical soft scented powers every once in a while. It may mean a soak in a tub filled with aromatic essences, or an early morning wake up to be alone with your thoughts, or an intimate candlelit moment of lovemaking. It may be the feeling one attains after a completing a mid morning jog, or sitting down on a train heading home after a long day of interacting joyfully with a group of enthusiastic learners..........our serenities are as unique as our thumbprints. But, the feeling is always the same. It is a peaceful centred existence when all of a sudden we can honestly say.....
All is right in the world. All is right with the world....if only for a moment.
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A walk down to the shore, Maximeville, PEI.
9 comments:
Gorgeous words, and pictures to match too, Awareness.
I'm so looking forward to being able to try for a little serenity myself next week:-)
I've been practicing meditation/self-relaxation techniques on and off over the years, often at bedtime to turn out the cares of the day and welcome slumber and release. As a consequence I can often conjure up a peaceful moment, given half a chance.... now, that half a chance itself can be a bear to find!
Best,
N.
those bears! yes, it can be elusive. I was actually thinking about describing the feeling of serenity I sometimes find when I've slipped into bed, fresh cool sheets that have hung out to dry in the wind scent....after a long day and automatically have found the most comfortable spot to fall asleep in.......it doesn't happen all the time.....but when it does....all worries seems to float away.
I'm glad you liked it.....I was feeling a bit rusty with my writing tonight.....and see how I could alter it etc.....
the pics...two of my favourites...a gift I was offered only minutes after we had arrived. amazingly beautiful.
Unfortunately, our view from the house is south south east, not west, so we will just have to walk a mile to see the sunset over the beach:-)
But I absolutely love sunsets, and I love a walk before bedtime, so that should be okay, especially since the temperature next week is supposed to be a more normal mid 90s for a high, instead of reaching into the 100's
(that's nearly 40 in celsius... the real feel today was exactly 40C!)
N.
For me, serenity comes only after I come to acceptance of a situation in my life. Then calmness takes over and I can be serene.
Nice photos down below!
I often step outside at night and listen to the quiet and tip my head back to look at the stars. That is my serenity. There are no street lights where I live, just inky blackness and twinkling stars. Just beautiful as are your always stunning photos.
breadbox...a walk towards a sunset sounds wonderful. your weather temps? Believe it or not, we hit those temps last week a couple of times....40 C + with humidity. Yuk. Oh, and I still have to translate the degrees in my head from Fahrenheit to Celcius....don't know why we ever changed this measurement.
Judy...I agree.....it does come after an acceptance of some situation as well. And it's always such a relief to come to terms with whatever it is....
Gypsy.....inky blackness and twinkling stars....you lucky person. The place where we were visiting in PEI was the same and it's always a delight to sit out and take it all in. The Milky Way the other night was so full of stars that it seemed like a strip of cloud...they merged together. Stunning.
Awareness: I just drafted a post on metric versus "english" units, as they refer to it here in the US: they just can't bring themselves to call it "imperial"! Of course, the reason Canada changed was to come into line with the rest of the civilized world! As far as I can tell, the US is now the only country still using F for temperatures on a regular basis.
The thing that I find difficult is remembering to convert temps for recipes! That 225 C oven is much hotter than it looks!
N.
I often wonder how many words we've overused to the point of rendering them useless. In our world of subjectivity, are objective definitions still possible? For instance, depending upon where one is, a "liberal" or a "conservative" can mean vastly different things.
Oh, great thoughts, though, and welcome back!
breadbox.....still find metric bizarre and am always converting it back to imperial in my head. My feeling is that this country went that way to screw us up originally with gas prices. now, they are out of control everywhere and it doesn't matter if it's in gallons or litres.
dustin...good point. there's a vast difference in the defn' of conservatism and liberalism between Canada and the US. A conservative here for the most part is considered quite left leaning compared to the US description.
I think many words have lost their zip and meaning. We seem to glom onto some and wrench them completely out of shape. "Grace" seems to be targetted right now, unfortunately.
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