I had a peaceful sleep last night and when I woke up, I did my usual morning things – made my bed, fed the kitty, brewed some tea. As I moved through my morning routine, I noticed that I was carrying some niggling, unsettled feelings. Nothing big and overall distressing, but feelings that were noticeably impacting the place I was in this morning. 

I have been doing quite a bit of work recently on unpacking and organizing things that have been in a lot of boxes in my garage. They are now inside my home where I have been working on them, and there are boxes and items scattered all over the place. It is very different from the usual calm and uncluttered environment that is typically in place. I think the current disarray of my home was having an effect on my emotional state. 

I sat down with my tea to have some quiet time and I decided to meditate a little bit.

I was looking out the window, looking around at the beautiful day – big white clouds in the blue sky, lots of sunshine, a bit of a breeze through the trees – and just breathing.  And I noticed that my mind was scattering quite a bit, not really quieting. Kind of a reflection of the unsettled feelings I was carrying.

Then my gaze fell on a patch of ground outside my window where there was a long strip of sunshine bordered by a lot of shadows of branches from the adjacent pine trees.  I saw the sun on the yellowed grass, the shadows of the branches interspersed with little bits of sunlight.  The movement of the shadows as the breeze moved through the branches.

And as I looked at that, my mind immediately quieted.  I felt myself settling into my breathing and moving into that place of stillness that comes with meditation.  A calmness and peace that moves from the inside outward until it is encompassing me.  

I felt the unsettled feelings that I had been carrying dissipate, and I came home to my body and my breath.  It felt like something that I just naturally moved into, without thought or intent.  It was really beautiful.

I stayed in that place of stillness for quite a while.  I watched the sun and the shadows shift as the clouds moved across the sky, and I just breathed.  The peaceful beauty of it all was very warm and nurturing.

I think sometimes when we are seeking peace, we have to let go and just let peace come to us. 

I hope you experience peace today.