Finding Serenity in the Rain

                             (photo of St. Lawrence Seaway taken by blog author)

So this summer has had more rain than sun where I reside and its made me realize that I like both rain and sun equally. But, its also made me realize that the rain can be both cleansing and dangerous, a lot like our world today.

As I sat outside this morning on my covered porch watching the light rain falling and listening to a guided Zoom meditation led by one of my local clergy I began to think about the world around me while getting in touch my own serenity.

After the wonderfully calming session had ended, I sat there for about another half hour and realized  that I wonder when our daily conversations became so tense, what was the the start of the downhill slide and can we ever get back the art of listening. Was there a specific moment that this all began or has it just swelled over time?

When did we find it necessary to have to have people telling us how to converse, how to find joy, how to find serenity?  No one told my mother how to locate her joy, it was just ingrained in her to be that way and she easily brought her joy to those who surrounded her.  Why can't we be this way now?

I think it's a little sad that we no longer find it necessary to actually listen, instead we envision that the person next to us may be our polar opposite so we don't engage, or in my case a fear of engaging. I find myself setting myself back in conversations waiting.

So what do we do to change the conversation and can we change the conversation? I don't have the answer just the questions.

So when I don't have the answers and just a whole lot of questions I take myself outside to my covered porch, or take a walk and listen to the beautiful sounds of quiet and of nature and if I can't go outside then I retreat to a quiet place with low lighting, put on my air pods and listen to Zen music to locate my serenity.

Enjoy the quiet and Find Your Serenity!

Chaos, Vitriol and Serenity

 I’m sitting in my screened in porch, listening to the much needed rain, the music of the birds and once in awhile some traffic and just allowing myself to be in the moment. Steady rain especially after a really dry period is cleansing, it clears the air and makes sweet and breathable. There’s a serenity that’s surrounded me.

Today’s world has become increasingly more chaotic and the vitriol that constantly envelops us is overwhelming.  What has happened to us?  (This is a rhetorical question). We no longer listen to each other, we argue for the sake of arguing, it’s “my way or the highway “ mentality and that’s an exhausting way to live. There are times that even I have gone down that path and then there are moments where I just walk away choosing not to engage. It’s disheartening.

How can we not be sad at our world?

Personally, I’ve gotten into truly listening to the songs of the birds in my backyard, as well as binaural beats (some kinda musical tones that calm the mind). It helps me focus on finding my inner serenity and for a little while calm the chaos of the world. 

Now more than ever we need mechanisms to enable us to locate the serenity within ourselves. 

Find your serenity through the music of nature, the quiet of color changing leaves, meditative music, binaural sounds, what works for me may not be the best for you but I’m asking you to try.

HAPPY AUTUMN!

(Photo by blog author)

Finding Serenity in Retirement

 It’s been quite a while since my last post, but there have been a lot of changes in my life:

A) The ending of my nonprofit.

B)  Retirement 

C). Moving to a new location and downsizing 

D) But the best part of choosing change is the reward of being close to family, of having time to volunteer for organizations that inspire me. 

Inspiration promotes serenity to me. Part of my motivation has included more active participation in my local gym, I don’t just walk on a treadmill but I also do serious weight training and that focus has made finding serenity a little  easier.

I’m finding that the joy in my life is recognizing the beauty in little things each day.

This morning I awoke to sunshine, puffy clouds and a yard filled with singing birds and a sense of change in the air. I’m sitting in my enclosed porch just listening. It’s truly amazing how just sitting still and breathing in the beauty that surrounds you can bring calm and serenity into your soul. 

Change is hard but it is necessary for growth, it’s rarely easy and it can be overwhelming.  There have definitely been times over the past year when all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. Retirement requires rethinking about priorities and what will give you new meaning as life moves forward. I’m still working through this process and I’m fairly certain that priorities will change over time but finding daily serenity will always be an ongoing goal. 

Keep moving forward!

Keep prioritizing yourself !

Find your serenity each and every day!

Serenity, Change and Forward Thinking

Each year as the new year starts everyone always asks, what are your resolutions for this new year and I say, "I don't do resolutions".  I've always thought that the term resolutions is a immediate set-up for failure, I really don't think anyone can say that they've accomplished all of their resolutions at the end of a year, but if you did-more power to you.  I'm very impressed.

So instead I always say, "that I'm going to work towards...that way I haven't exactly failed at my goals".

2024 will be an interesting year, I think.  We'll have a contentious election, no matter what side your on, we will still be in the midst of dangerous climate change weather systems, healthcare, economy, poverty, food insecurity and crime (the last 5 are all interconnected) and it's a driving force in what I choose to work towards - changing the dynamic.

So, you probably asking yourself, how does this actually relate to serenity?  Well, that's a complicated answer.  Every morning I wake up filled with hope for the day, but somewhere along the way, it gets murky and although by the time I get to the evening news I'm usually exhausted by the world around me.  Last evening it was filled with one horrifying story after another and it's not until the very end that you get a feel good story, usually about an unknown hero who's tried to make their corner of the world a little more joyous.  Why do we have to wait until 6:58 pm for this story?  I propose that we make our own story more compassionate, more joyous, and filled with just a little bit of daily serenity.

There's an old saying, "life is what you make it" I say let's make 2024 a year of compassion, let's attempt to find ways to help those in our local communities, give back, volunteer, and you will find serenity in the feeling of knowing that others in your circle have your friendship, your compassion, your caring.

Serenity is all around you if you just stop looking for the joys of your life.

Let me know your thoughts and comments.

INTROSPECTION, DECISIONS AND SERENITY

So, I've decided to restart writing my blog on serenity.  It's been quite a while since I lasted posted, mostly life has gotten in the way, but now things have calmed down to it's time to re-adjust and find my serenity once more.

As Thanksgiving approaches (tomorrow actually) I have started looking at what's next in my life.  Life is hard and day-to-day decisions can sometimes be overwhelming.  I'm one of those people that tries to list out pros vs cons.  If I choose this one what are the consequences but the COVID shutdowns that happened a couple of years ago have changed my approach to life.  I think that I have become less of a planner and am starting to take more of a gut approach to life, work, family, friends and commitments.

In the past year a close friend and a close cousin both became ill, one will hopefully be able to return to the life they had before, with some modifications, the other one although has the will and determination to carry on, my not survive the medical issues that have set their path.  

These 2 make me introspective, have I lived my life to the fullest or have I become complacent?  Have I really tried to live my best life or have I lived my life based on what others will think of me?  The answer to these questions is more than likely yes to all of it.  Now I believe the time has come for me to take control of my life, to try my best not to be so worried about how I will look to others, but how I look at myself.

In order to relocate my serenity I must stop the belief that I have to be available for everyone who needs me, that I have to keep going on projects that probably need a different perspective from a new person.  All my life I've believed that I couldn't let anyone down, my parents, my family, my friends, but the one person I was truly letting down was myself, because I didn't believe in myself, I always second guessed every answer, I always asked opinions even if I new the answer.  Now I'm in a much better place mentally, physically and emotionally.

I'm going into this Thanksgiving filled with joy, filled with compassion, filled with the belief that I can't do everything, I won't always make people happy, but that's their issue not mine.

Fill your life with the things that bring you joy, that's how you find serenity.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!🦃🦃🦃🦃 

Finding Serenity during the crazy, busy times in our lives.

 I know it's been forever since I published a post on serenity but life does get a little crazy sometimes.

In the past several months life has just gotten in the way of finding my towards serenity.  My home life balance is out-of-whack, my work life balance is out-of-whack, my health balance is out-of-whack and it took until Thanksgiving for me to realize that it's absolutely exhausting.

I have always been the person who has a tendency to put others feelings and best interests first pushing my own to the side.  For a while I stopped doing that but somehow it has crept back into my being.  So what to do about this:

    a)  First and most importantly, it took some time but I recognized that behavior before it's spiraled out of control.

    b)  Now that I have recognized the issue and I can return to bringing balance back into my daily life.

As of today, as I write this blogpost I have taken back my ability to see me, put myself and my best interests in living a life that has meaning foremost in my mind.

I have found that there are times when negativity that surrounds me.  I've chosen to no longer allow it to permeate my soul.  Sometimes the best course of action is to remove yourself from the equation and that's what I'm choosing to do.  I leave the room and walk away.  I find my quiet place, deep breathe and remove the negativity from surrounding me.  Is it hard to do, absolutely, because there are times when all I want to do is answer back,  yell and try to get my point across.  But, what I've learned is that when that much negative emotions swirl you stop listening and only react. Almost never a good option.  So in that case it's best to remove myself instead.

I find it works for me, it may not solve the problem but neither will a shouting match so instead I just keep moving forward.

Life sometimes is really hard, day-to-day conflicts are draining, we watch entertainment, read books, meet up with friends, take long walks or even exercise to remove ourselves from our stressors, but at least once a day we need to quiet our minds.  

Close your eyes, Move to a quiet spot, do a couple of deep, deep breathes and find a little bit of serenity to help you face the world on a daily basis. 

Photo by Lois - Alaska trip

Finding Serenity during these times of stress

So first let me apologize for the length of time between now and my last post.  Sometimes life just gets in the way.  But that being said, know that I have still maintained my ability to find some serenity in each and every day.

These past few weeks we have been reminded that peace and serenity are extremely fragile things in our world.  But each and every night when I watch the news or read a post about the horrors that Russia has rained down on Ukraine, I marvel at the stories of hope, faith and the ability to find just a small piece of joy and serenity in their lives.  A few nights ago they showed a clip of a young woman playing her violin, last night it was a very young girl singing in Ukrainian "Let it Go" from the movie "Frozen" both huddled in bomb shelters and then the clip was the young girl singing the Ukrainian national anthem at a concert (she and her family had escaped out of Ukraine, I don't know about the violinist, through).  This is the truest form of finding serenity, one I cannot even imagine.

As I think back on the past 2 years of the pandemic, it astounds me that our world is still filled with such hatred, disrespect, violence and out right meanness.  Why, is the question that keeps going round and round in my head.  There's no easy answer to that why, but is there a way to subdue it, to lessen it?

If you have any ideas or would just like to express your concerns, please feel free to post comments.

I have learned over the past year that it's best for me to turn off the "noise" mid evening, prepare for bed, read a few chapters of a romance novel and then listen to sleep meditations to lull me into the night.  By the time the lights are off and maybe a few minutes into the mediations, I'm usually fast asleep and I wake up each morning hoping that it will be a better day.  Some days are and some are not, but I will always try to end my day by finding my serenity, finding joy in some small aspect of the day and believing that we will always try to bring that serenity to others in our circle.

Find your joy!

Find your peace!

Find your serenity!