I'm writing this on my laptop, sitting in the car at the lookout at Kenosee Lake. It's a gorgeous Sunday morning, the lake has finally lost any remnant of ice, and looking around there's not even the slightest hint of the snow that blanketed the region two weeks ago. I can hear birds singing off in the distance, celebrating the change in conditions, they sound enthusiastic, happy.
The lake is a beautiful blue today; the sun is causing momentary diamonds of light to sparkle on the wind-rippled water. There are some gulls flying across the sky, and what a sky it is. An artist might be able to capture the intensity of the colours, but the original is superb. Not a cloud to punctuate the clear atmosphere, and just a trace of the vapour trail from a 747 that flew eastward at high altitude about 20 minutes ago.
It's getting warm in the car now, I just opened the door, there's more birdsong, and a gentle breeze is filling the vehicle with colder, fresh air. A car is driving on Hwy 9, it's far enough away to make little sound, I feel as though I am alone with nature. It is so peaceful; this wonderful jewel in the heart of our area, this is one of my most-loved "thinking spots."
It is peaceful here, a place that vibrates with an energy that can calm the very soul. From this hilltop there's a view that provides enough distance and perspective to drive the fog from any mind, clearing the thoughts, intensifying inner vision. One can almost feel the spirits of the ancestors that our first-nation friends talk about or at least the inherent divinity of the natural world around us. It's a peaceful moment in a peaceful place, a sacred time in the cathedral of creation.
Peace. What a beautiful word, and what an even more wonderful experience. For years I lived without it, suffering with stress and anxiety to the point of distraction. Have you ever been there? We live in a world where these emotions are at an all time high, we erode any sense of inner peace through fast-paced living and trying to live up to the expectations of everyone around us. We turn to imperfect solutions that act as band-aids to cover the feelings of inner turmoil, and sometimes peace is nothing but a memory.
Yet peace is possible, it's our birthright, the natural tendency of the human spirit when in harmony with the rhythm of life. And finding peace, experiencing it on a daily basis, is a joyous and wonderful gift that life can give us, when we learn a few basic realities and employ some new strategies. It starts with the vital concept of living in the present moment. What is worry? It is the act of looking to a future time or event, and placing on it the very worst interpretation, then dwelling on it to the point that it erodes our experience of now. What is regret? It is dwelling on a time that has now gone, a time that will never come again, and taking severe judgements about that time and overlaying them on the present. Excessive worry and excessive regret take away from us the joy of the only moment we ever have, the moment of now. This is an incredibly powerful strategy of living in peace, and when used consistently, with mature awareness, it can change your life.
