Lens-Artists Challenge – Finding Peace

When I was thinking about last week’s challenge about Alone Time there was another thought on my mind. How, sometimes that precious time is also when I can find some peace. But not exclusively. Never exclusively. There’s peace to be found in the company of others and, personally, sharing it makes it even more special.

Since I can remember, there are things that I find almost transcendent. One being looking at the night sky at my grandparents house by the sea. Very little source lights would allow to have a awesome view of the stars,  an atlas nearby to show us what to look for.  From that point onwards, it doesn’t really matter what I’m looking up to. Looking up always gives me a sense of peace. It can be nature doing her own thing or man, trying to reach immortality.

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Strangely, places that have been through a lot also bring me a sense of peace. Maybe it’s because they show resilience. There are a couple of churches in Lisbon that have the scars showing difficult times and they’re more beautiful as a result. The Convento do Carmo has been a ruin since the big earthquake of 1755. The Igreja de S Domingos barely survived two earthquakes (1531 and 1755) and a fire in 1959.

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One of the things I’ve always missed the most is the beach. I’d miss it during the winter months when I was still living in Portugal. Now, I miss it all the time. I’ve come to realise there’s not much more peaceful to me than the sound of the sea, the wind blowing through the beachgrass. And then, reaching the beach, being a childhood one or a new one, it’s exhilarating and a coming-home-peaceful feeling all in one.

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I now also find peace in any garden I visit. The colours, the scents, the buzzing of the bees that I fear no more, all take the stress and worries away, revitalising and inspiring me.

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There are also places where peace was such a presence, I will never forget the experience. The first one, the Forests Underwater by Takashi Amano at the Lisbon Oceanário. The second one, the Shoren-in in Kyoto. In both, we – because it was a shared experience- just sat down and contemplated for what felt both like minutes and hours. Simply unforgettable.

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From Alone Time, with Ann-Christine, last week, to Tina’s Finding Peace, it’s time to search for the things that really matter and make our lives better. It was wonderful to see how we spend our alone time and what it means to all of us, so a big thank you to Ann-Christine for the previous challenge. Please visit Tina’s beautiful site and join us this week. Remember to tag Lens-Artists and to link back to her original post.

Next week is John’s turn to lead, make sure to visit his site for more on the challenge. Until then, take care.

If you want to know more about the Lens-Artists Challenge, click here.

Posted for Tina’s Lens-Artists Challenge

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