My Little Happy Place

Can you feel it, calm, peace, serenity? Pulsing rhythm, blood and water, connected, steady beats. At one, calm as the sky meets the water, entwining, mirrored, reflected. Wind caressing your skin, flowing through your hair. Cool, soft, gentle caress upon your cheek, tingling the hairs on the back of your neck and into your inner being. Listening within, to that inner knowing, inner wisdom, inner peace, inner triumph, inner depths of longing, dread, defeat. Can you hear it, that whispering sound calling to you from within?

Spiritual, creative! In these moments I pray as I do my best to listen. Listen to my inner guide, to Mother Nature, to a God of my understanding. Instantly, before I even sit down, the reflection of the sky on the water fills me with instant calm, instant peace. As I sit and close my eyes, I feel at one with the current of the water, with nature, and her sounds all around me. Sounds so diverse, but each a gift all their own, from the sounds of the flow of the water, the wind blowing, people chattering, birds chirping, kids playing, each birthed up from nature herself. God given gifts and the slowing down to fully feel the appreciation and joy of it all. Mind at ease from the endless thoughts, at one, in this moment, fully present and soaking it all in.

This is the happiness I create, my happy place. Moments of calm, sitting on the bank by the lake. My child nearby creating his own little happiness, in our moment of solitude. Him creating with his hands, using scissors, rubber bands, sticks, paper, or anything he can find. Building launchers that he can propel pebbles or stones into the air with. Turning sticks into swords and running off to battle the massive ferocious weeds.

Me, creating from within, imagery, feelings, words to capture on a tip of a pencil as it glides in pauses and thoughts on paper. Crafted from my connection with the magnificent body of water before me. From the mirrored reflections that rest upon the waters surface creating peace within me, my mind opens and from that openness a flood of peace and serenity. Stillness within those reflections, creates a slowing down, a stillness within me. The sky and clouds, perfectly mirrored. The banks and trees, perfectly mirrored. Even as the water flows, not still at all, but gently flowing, the reflections upon it appear so still.

And those sounds off in the distance that bring a slight smile across my lips as I sit there with my eyes closed and the outer world coming back into awareness. Sounds that fill my heart with joy and inspire creativity. Sounds that make me feel grateful to be alive, to be at a pace calm enough within my mind, body, and spirit, to experience it all for what it really is. Inner joy felt over the simplest things. Paused so that I can come into a space within myself to really feel it, to truly embrace it, to fill me with wonder which dances across my mind and heart, inspiring words and images to flow out from within me.

After creating that inner world and crafting it into words on paper, I gather up my other tools to create with. Using flowers that I brought or picked, other plants, and scissors as needed, I create shapes out of the petals, leaves, and stems. Overlapping them, building upon them, combining pieces into my little master piece. Breathing with a sense of calm as I create it. Every ounce of my being, serene.