Day 11

Where do you turn for peace?

If it's been a stressful day, there are things that I enjoy.  Don't be a hater.  These are true.

Sometimes, all I need is to be able to rest, and I awake refreshed and ready to take on the world. 

Other times, just some salty delightfulness and I am already in a mood that is better suited to friendly romps in non-peaceful land.

I find that it is helpful at times to place my brain in extreme think mode... about something else.  Video games provide a fairly good outlet for that.  I am called upon to think about things that don't matter at all.

Truly, I love to delve into a good book.  Some may say that this is something of an addiction.  I am capable of forgetting the rest of the world and getting entirely wrapped up in a novel.  I love having a book in my hands, the smell of the pages, the act of turning pages, the sound as the pages turn.  Oh how I love books.

Writing, now that is an amazing thing.  Watching a story unfold, and knowing that the continuance depends on YOU.  The act of moving a pen across paper.  The scent of the ink.  The mission to find the right words.  The completed work.  Heaven.

Related, but different, is writing in a journal.  I can capture the things I feel, the lessons I've learned, the miracles and challenges.  I love journals.  I love how each one is different, just like life.  It never stays the same.

Additionally, I will check emails and social media and the mailbox for communications to me.  I like to have notes from friends and family.  Truthfully, I prefer letters.  I am old school (as you may have noticed) and part of the pleasure is the tactile experience of reading.  I like to see stamps, open envelopes, have handwriting and a page to open and flip.  But I also enjoy emails and messages.

Music calms the savage beast.  I am no exception.  My talents may be limited, but I will sing.  Or play the flute.  Or jam out to my mp3 player or online radios.  This brings me less stress.

And finally, when I am truly hungering after peace, I seek inspired words.  I turn to the scriptures or to other revelations and find in them answers.  The Spirit comes and sits with me, and I am calm.  I wish that is the sort of peace I could have all the time.  It is always shocking to me to notice that although this is a guaranteed means of obtaining peace, I am often reticent to partake of it.  Well, to some degree that is true of finding peace anyway.  But I love quiet moments to myself, where the world is on pause, and the only thing I have is the tranquility that accompanies inspirational works.