I am surrounded by serenity – peaceful countryside, sleepy villages, hibernating bears, horses and cows who chew hay in the winter pasture and exhale vapor into the cold mountain air.
But something’s amiss.
I don’t feel this serenity on the inside.
I feel stirred up, heavy, dissatisfied, restless.
World events seep into my hide-out, issue a call for action. What can I do? Should I do anything? What is my personal responsibility? What will I do with all my skills and expertise – flowers don’t feud over their religion, they are united within the Church of Nature. Trees share soil and air space so many can thrive together. Animals do not create foreign matter that has no place anywhere. But people….they don’t do so well when they are hurt and traumatized and tend to turn on themselves or others. I know how to help people heal in their broken places – but do I want to step into the ring, again?
Perhaps it’s the winter blahs, perhaps it’s intuition letting me know that things are building up, shifting into formation. Perhaps spring will let me know what I am called to do, and which direction to go.
Until then, at least there is serenity in my vicinity:
More on Serenity at the Daily Post.
The Beauty Along the Road 
“Flowers don’t feud over their religion” …you are giving me goosebumps! The sequence of the photos, the narrative, the mood, it’s all seamless. I just went on an emotionally engaging journey thanks to you. Awesome post.
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Thanks, Robyn, for the inspiration to write about this in the first place.
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You’re welcome! It got me off the couch though and racing around the place with purpose, that’s the best part. So I should be thanking you.
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Sounds good – anxious to hear more details 🙂
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Your choices were very thoughtful…Well don.
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Thank you, Charlie. BTW, I wanted to thank you for your post on hardy kiwis -just the info I needed to know what to do with my two vines 🙂
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Most beautiful, Annette.
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Thank you, Cornelia.
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Such a heart-felt post, Annette. I understand your disquiet amid the beauty of the landscape. Whatever it is you have to do will become clear, I’m sure.
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I think so, too, Tish. Problem is, I am an impatient person, though, and want the answer NOW 🙂 Thank you for your support, Tish.
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Perhaps you need to take yourself to a very quiet place and interrogate your inner guide, and even if an answer doesn’t crop up immediately – at least start a dialogue/posing questions. You must know this – it’s the framing and posing of the questions that often springs an answer. I need to do this for myself of course. It’s always easier to tell someone else what to do 🙂
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That’s good advice, Tish. I am actually embarking on a solo retreat for a week to do just that. I’ll remember your advice re: posing the questions….Thank you so much.
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It’s something I’ve found when writing – if you just let the questions flow around in your head nothing much happens re answers, but ask a specific question, and especially out loud, and sometimes the answer comes straight back. Good luck.
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Profound thoughts, Annette. Your images and words are a haunting reminder to live in the present and learn from mother nature. Changes…always occurring and sometimes unexpected. Spring is just around the corner. Hang in there! Did you ever watch the Seinfeld episode, “Serenity Now”?
“Serenity now! Serenity now!”
“What is that?”
“The doctor gave me a relaxation cassette. When my blood pressure gets too high, the man on the tape tells me to say ‘serenity now!'”
“Are you supposed to yell it?”
“The man on the tape wasn’t specific.”
This quote always makes me laugh.
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Oh, that Seinfeld quote is so funny, Debbie. Thanks for giving me something to smile about this morning. 🙂
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Yes. I feel with you.
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Thank you, Aggie, I know you are a sensitive soul as well.
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A really wonderful post, both words and images Annette. World events are very disturbing indeed, and we can’t help but feel unsettled by them. The beauty and serenity found in nature is a great antidote though.
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Yes, nature is a powerful ally. thank you, Sylvia.
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Annette, this is an immensely powerful post. It really speaks to me too. I comfort myself when feeling as you do with the concept of thinking globally and acting locally. Those of us with a heightened awareness of what’s going on in the world really suffer in a way. I’m sometimes envious of those who carry on blissfully unaware of beheadings and other atrocities. They are so much more…..serene.
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Those of us who are “highly sensitive” have a much harder time distancing ourselves from what’s going on beyond our backyards. Such large forces at work that are difficult to influence on a local level…but that’s really where it’s at for most of us, isn’t it, think globally and act locally? Thank you so much for your sensitive comment, Barbara.
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I have that same feeling that something bad is coming and I have no way to fix it. I watch things play out and think there is no way things are going to end well for anyone. We need more flowers and trees, maybe we should pay more attention to them.
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Hi Rena – I have a feeling a lot of us are experiencing this same feeling of foreboding, not knowing what (else) is coming down the pipe. And we can still only live in this very moment. Yes, flowers and trees are our assistants. This morning I was sitting in the dentist’s chair and there was a lot of drilling going on requiring two additional numbing shots because the nerve just wouldn’t go to sleep. And there was a huge, old tree outside the window. So I was concentrating on the tree and carrying on a conversation with it (in my mind, I’m not delusional – yet :-)). This really helped me get thru the dental ordeal.
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Haha! That makes such a funny mental picture. I hope you get to feeling better.
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You said what I’m feeling too. I should be serene, but I’m not. It’s made it hard for me to think up my own post on this. Thanks for giving words to my half-formed thoughts.
I loved your photos, especially the long road with that falling down structure along it.
Nancy
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Hi Nancy – I thought about this “Serenity” theme all week and just couldn’t get behind it because it’s not what I am feeling right now. And then it hit me – well, then write about what you are not experiencing! Glad it resonated with you and maybe you can give yourself permission to write down your own thoughts, even if they are only half-formed 🙂
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I love this post. I’m sitting here in Oklahoma in the clinic that I used to own and thinking I don’t belong here anymore so I checked my email and saw this beautiful post. Thank you so much. This gave me chills and then peace.
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Hi Glenda – I was hesitant to verbalize my feelings so publicly but it seems like it resonated with quite a few people. Thanks for your comment and the re-blog!
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Reblogged this on Yarn Around My World.
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What a beautiful post Annette. I hope you find your path, and that it’s as wonderful as the path you’ve photographed – which is glorious!!
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Thank you so much, Tina. I am actually doing a solo retreat this week on your island! Hoping to gain some insights…
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Can’t help but take inspiration from your nature shots, but it’s a complicated and convoluted route along the human pathway. Hope spring brings the light of it’s invigorating healing powers.
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“Complicated and convoluted” – very apt adjectives! Thank you.
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I’m grateful for your truth, and for helping me understand why I am so tired of winter as well. Nature, somewhere there is energy waiting to rise again. I feel like you wrote this, and even chose the photographs specifically for my situation. Soul sisters. 🙂
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Hello, Soul Sister Charly. I, at first, didn’t want to write this post to avoid “burdening” others. But so many can relate, so it must contain a truth that needed to be expressed and needed to find resonance. I wonder what insights this “Winter of Discontent” will yield?
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