Seeking Stillness

I recently read an old journal entry where I wrote that I was feeling pressure from a lot of sides and was longing for a moment of stillness. With everything going on this year, that resonated with me. When I found this poem that I wrote three years ago, it reminded me of how to find stillness even in a storm, so I wanted to share it in case you, too, needed a moment of stillness. And here's a photo from August to go with it.

Stillness in the Storm

It is too easy

to get swept up

in chaos

as the world spins around me,

changing with such speed

I get whiplash

trying to keep everything

in sight.

I feel uprooted,

no longer certain

of the ground beneath me.

I start to panic

until I remember

that even a tornado

has a center of calm,

of stillness.

I decide

to be that center

for myself.

I cannot control

what others do,

but I can choose

to be a point

of stillness,

to hold fast

to what comforts me,

so I, in turn,

can be a refuge

and give aid

to others

who have so much less stability

than I,

whose lives are swept away

by the edges of this storm,

to offer them

the sanctuary

of my own quiet and calm,

and hope it provides

some respite

and their own moment,

however brief,

of peace

and stillness.