Day Two (Peace) of Wild Musings with Renee Magnusson Peaceful Easy Feelings When I think of peace a memory comes to mind from the late 70s when I lived in North Vancouver: early morning, I’m walking along our suburban street to catch the bus to Capilano College and long before I can see anyone, I hear a guitar being strummed, music drifting between trees, mingling with birdsong. Then I spot the musician: a long-haired man, at the most a decade older than me, sat back on a front porch. In my mind now he has bare feet propped up on the wooden railing…think Shel Silverstein in some of his author photos. The music follows me all the way down the road. I feel sad when I could no longer hear it and have to return to the mundane, socially scary business of catching a bus. He wasn’t always there but when he was my step felt lighter. Oh to have a life where I could start my days like that! (not that I’m musical but just to have that ease.) It always seemed so peaceful to me. I’m fortunate that in a life where my days turn into nights for half the week (I work midnights three nights a week), I have a beautifully relaxing and grounding morning routine that works as a solid bookend to my day whether it’s just beginning or just ending. I read and record a 3 card Tarot card pull then write and post my daily haiku on Instagram, linking it to a photo I’ve taken. This routine is my morning guitar song from the wooden porch. A scrap of peace in my day. Strangely all my immediate thoughts of peace go to the late 70s and adjusting to life on the west coast of Canada after having just emigrated from the gritty northeast of England. Perhaps it was the west coast vibe because it was a hard and stressful time for me in many ways. Perhaps it’s a present day nostalgia. But the scenery was breathtaking, easy to become absorbed in. Stores at the time were full of those monochromatic prints of receding mountains and shorelines and Blue Mountain Arts cards and posters and books by Susan Polis Schutz. They all oozed peace to me. A cool, love each other, hippy vibe. Now I light incense, usually nag champa, to achieve a similar feeling. I love writing all this out as the connections suddenly make sense! What are you doing when your shoulders relax? asks Renee. Interesting. I tried to focus on this today and noticed it a couple of times: outside raking leaves on a gloriously mild day with sparrows trilling in the cedar; absorbed in solving word puzzles in a well-worn magazine; feet up, catching up on my soap (Coronation Street); even writing this, stopping to seat boogie to my favourite songs on one of my Spotify playlists (Lift Me Ups). If I had given myself time today, it would also include when doing tai chi (absolute internal peace for me) and mixed media painting. Peace is the chance to do what pleases me most, those activities that soothe and calm me. A purring cat close by immediately relaxes me and I’m lucky to have one as a sleeping buddy. The hush and sparkling beauty of any place after a fresh snowfall always enthrals me. And the peace and silence of Christmas Eve after all the stores are closed holds a very special place in my heart. Peace, at least what I’ve written here about peace, feels so soft and personal yet it’s a much needed, tremendously big world necessity. Perhaps it needs to start as sprouting tendrils in the cosiest places in our hearts before stretching out into the world. Finally, because synchronicity delights me, I want to show you this card that arrived in my mail today. And it occurs to me that ‘peace’ is a wish, a prayer, a desire all by itself. Peace. Day 313 of 365 days of haiku Amongst autumn gold pansy blooms blue its time to shine
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AuthorWelcome! I'm Sue Blott: a writer of all things, a poet at heart, mom, wife, daughter, step-mom, grandma, tea drinker, tai chi-er, mystic, artist, dreamer...and now a blogger! This is my world. Categories |