An Instant of Tranquility

An Instant of Tranquillity 

Standing, barefoot, your eyes closed, your face lifted up to the sky as the cool, nourishing breeze rolls in waves over your whole body, and your clothes fill with air then deflate with the coming and going motions of the sea by your side. Slowly, you inhale aligning your breath with the precision of the colliding current. Your senses recognise the intricate smell of petrichor and perhaps the almost tantalising taste of the salty water. However, you do not arrange your senses so elaborately, but instead simply feel the mesmerising voice of the flowers, trees, grass and water; a vibrant cacophony of greens, blues and yellows. Exhaling, you open your eyes and every detail of the wilderness calls to you and, suddenly, overwhelmed you feel that you might burst with joy at being part of the pure serendipity of life. 

“Surely this peace must end” you think. But isn’t that exactly the problem with modern day life? Day to day, hour to hour we fight the innate yearning to rest. Think about it, do you feel stressed, angry or sad? Have you realised that oddly, the less you sleep or rest, the more work seems to be piling up before your very eyes? You say you will take a break and watch a film or talk to friends, but isn’t that just another form of stimulation, another distraction? Begging the question: When do you actually take a moment, even just a short moment to breath and just be - just as the description at the start. Compared to that, our reality is a strange one - screens, advertisement, bright lights, an age of worship of a projected light on a rectangular surface and if you’re like most, your phone is the first thing you grab for and the last starkly bright light shining in your tired face. 

No statistics will suffice at this point. The truth is, our world is thriving in this new way of life powered by technology. All I ask of you is this: Don’t get lost in fake reality, in the superficial. Contrary to popular belief our position in the world is not grounded on what we can see, it is not based on our social media following, it isn’t based on our figure or the beauty of our face, neither is it about how popular we are. The single thing that remains constant in the whole of our existence is in fact you. You and the very natural world of Earth. So take a moment to breathe and just be, even for a minute. It’s so easy to fly off with the world buzzing around you, just remember to come back down in your natural grounded state.