Peace on the Surface

After today’s 3-hour board meeting, I am completely drained.

Not because things went bad; they didn’t. It was likely the best board meeting we’ve had. But even good board meetings for startups can take everything out of you.

And tonight, weary of all thought of just about any kind, find myself longing for the quiet peace and beauty of the wide expanse of Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley, a place that is near and dear to my heart and was where our family spent our last vacation back in 2008 (another side-effect of startup life).

But looking back at the photo I captured of Lamar Valley, I realize the peace in the photo is only on the surface.

Within the trees which line the edge of the valley a grizzly bear weaves in and out, sniffing for the scent of prey and scurrying among the shrubs for berries.

Newborn elk are hidden away from predators, lying among the rushes at the edge of the river as the females in the herd graze nearby.

A lone coyote lopes along a well-worn path across the empty field, carrying a freshly captured rodent back to a den somewhere off in the distance.

And several wolves, all part of the Druid Peak Pack, are resting among the copse of trees at the bottom of the valley, having gorged themselves on the bison taken down by the pack earlier in the day.

And I realize that peace is what is offered on the surface — when we make peace with all that is happening in our lives, whatever stressors or worries are carried in the undercurrent of our day. Peace is in our mind.

(Although I do find it easier to find that peace within the serenity and beauty of places in the world like Lamar Valley.)