Let Peace Surprise You
The world may be in chaos, but our healing can begin within
Peace.
Peace be with you. May you go in peace.
When is the last time you felt truly, wholly at peace?
Look inside. What do you see? What are you too afraid to look at? What confuses you, what doesn’t make sense? Which parts do you wish were different, which parts have you shunned? Where has judgment clouded your vision, so all you see feels wrong?
When we look out at the world and see so much pain, suffering, and separation, it mirrors the parts of us that are hurting. It reveals everything we have yet to heal. We want for there to be less war, but we forget is that that war begins inside — it begins where we feel at odds with our own actions and beliefs, where conflict and judgement have come to dominate over love.
It’s hard to hold a vision of peace (for the world) when you’re at war within yourself.
Peace is a reclamation. We are the world and the world lives in us, and every time we choose to reclaim the parts of ourselves we once hated, we choose peace.
Peace is a reclamation. It’s an exhalation, a letting go after we’ve been holding on for far too long.
Peace is a reclamation. It means reclaiming the beauty of imperfection, accepting a moment for what it is and choosing to be every bit where you are.
A gentle nudge: sit with yourself at some point today — just be with your breath, maybe while you’re waiting for the water to boil for a cup of tea. It doesn’t have to be long, it doesn’t have to look any particular way. Sometimes when we think of ‘sitting’ we think of meditation and it becomes daunting. But Peace doesn’t require much. It simply asks that you be open to receive it. Let it find you in the stillness.
Let Peace surprise you.
As a poet, writer, and artist, Maia Thom works with words to create spaces for people to breathe and come home to themselves. In 2020, she published her first anthology, Kitchen Table Talks: Simple Reminders + Thoughts on Life. You can find her on Instagram as @maia.thom where she shares poetry, art, and practical wisdom to offer daily moments of calm.
