It
is Saturday, September 13th
as I write
this. Those of you who watch the news are aware of the senseless
murders that took place all this week. In this world of constant
bickering, noise and hurry, fear and distrust, we need a way to find
peace in our hearts and souls. I could talk religion here, but faith
is something different to each individual. I just hope all of you DO
have some kind of faith in a higher power, a Being to whom you can
turn in prayer in these times of grief and worry. Lately I find
myself wondering if I am safe anymore, even in this very small town
where I live. I never dreamed that in this wonderful country where
our ancestors fought for law and order that I would be afraid to walk
into my favorite little restaurant because someone might walk in and
shoot everybody for absolutely no reason whatsoever.
It
is time to find ways in addition to God and prayer to find peace in
our hearts and souls. I find that peace through the five God-given
senses most of us enjoy. Even those who cannot hear can enjoy life
through their remaining senses. It’s the same if you cannot see.
Each sense can be magnified and trained to make up for the one a
person might have lost. The point is, we all have favorite pictures,
food, music, touchable items or a certain scent that makes us sigh
and think of things that make us happy and bring us peace.
Who
doesn’t love the feel of a dog’s thick fur, a cat’s vibrating
purring, even the cluck of a chicken or the crow of a rooster? Close
your eyes and picture a meadow where chickens strut, cows moo softly,
the sound carried in a gentle wind. Once in a while a horse whinnies,
birds chirp and fly about. Maybe a little yellow bird perches atop a
fence pole. Wildflowers bloom in a rainbow of colors. Numerous shades
of green abound from grass to tall trees, and in autumn, a few colors
of red and orange mix with the green to create so much color you can
hardly take it all in. The sky is a deep blue with white, puffy
clouds that sometimes shade a brilliant sun. At times the soft breeze
brings the small of a distant campfire or someone grilling a steak.
Imagine all of this in the country, where there is no sound of
traffic. You have left your phone and computer somewhere in the house
and you don’t care. Your car sits silent because today you are
going to stay home, sit outside, and just let all your senses bring
you peace. Maybe you have a cup of coffee with you, along with a
muffin or a cookie, either one still warm. You bite into that muffin
or cookie and relish the taste of sugar and berries or chocolate
chips, then sip your hot coffee, maybe black, maybe with cream.
Perhaps
your preferred sights, sounds and smells are mountains (oh, I love
the Rockies!), or a small pond, a lake, the ocean with its rhythmic
pattern of in-coming waves. And, of course, we can’t leave out our
favorite music. I call it mood music. Music can bring immediate calm
to the soul, and we all have our favorites.
Whatever
your favorites are as far as using all your senses, I hope you are
able to close your eyes and take yourself into that scene, that
place, that taste or smell, hear that music, and … more than all of
that … bathe in a memory that makes you sigh with happiness.
Memories are a part of all the senses that can bring us peace. Fight
the bad ones. Concentrate on the good ones.
Personally,
one of my favorite ways to find peace is to listen to Christmas music
and picture an old-fashioned Christmas with the smell of a turkey and
pies in the oven, children laughing amid their new presents, the
Christmas tree glowing with decorations. Grandma is in the kitchen
mashing potatoes the old-fashioned way rather than with an electric
mixer, or maybe she is making home-made gravy from the turkey
drippings. Maybe YOU are that grandma. Everyone sits down to a big
table and eats off of real china. No one has a phone with them. The
TV is off. And Christmas music from a speaker in the kitchen or a
distant room accompanies all the talk and movement. I see snow
falling, people who are actually dressed nice and are friendly no
matter what the religion or beliefs of their loved ones or even
strangers they meet. I see smiles, grace, love … and peace.
Another
release I enjoy (and feel blessed to have the gift) is my writing. I
can leave my world and walk into someone else’s. I can leave my
house and walk in the mountains or ride a horse through a grassy
valley. I have the power to create whatever characters I want to
create. For a while I can leave my troubles and today’s news and
craziness and go back in history and write stories that help readers
understand and appreciate what it took to settle this wonderful
country called the United States of America.
I
hope all of you will turn to your senses and memories when in
distress. I hope all of you appreciate the freedoms we have here in
America. I hope all of you have a faith to sustain you. I hope all of
you realize that there are times when we need to put down the cell
phone and turn off the TV and take some “my time” in whatever
fashion you need to use to find peace in your hearts and souls. And
be sure to share that peace with friends, loved ones, and especially
with your children. Today our children are hit from all sides with
every belief imaginable, with hate speech and neglect, and worst of
all, they are listening to chatter and rhetoric on TV, the internet
and their cell phones. Please, please find a way to limit your
child’s time on today’s methods of breaking into your children’s
minds. Please, please
teach them that the higher power they should turn to is NOT AI. AI is
fake. AI bots is NOT REAL and is NOT THEIR FRIEND! AI has its good
uses, but befriending your child is not one of them! Children need
love, advice and hugs from REAL PEOPLE.
I
could go on and on about all the things that are thrown at us in
today’s world. Instead, I hope you find ways to escape from it all
by taking the time to use your own senses. And I can’t end this
blog without one of the best escapes of all … READING A GOOD BOOK
that takes you into a world of history and romance, a good book that
is truthful and about real life and love, a book that always leaves
you feeling good at the end.
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