If you've ever taken a walk through the woods, birds twittering, wind weaving softly through the branches. Nothing but the crunch of leaves and twigs beneath your feet, warm summer air in your lungs. If you've done this you'll know of the serenity of which I will speak, the calm that rushes through your bones. The calm that seeps into your very being and leaves you breathless with wonder. If you have never experienced this, let me show you. Let me show you. Let me whisper it into your ear, until it becomes your only thought. Let me show you how something small and insignificant was, in truth, bigger than any of us could ever imagine.
I remember. I remember the day I found serenity. Twigs and dead leaves cracked underfoot, sweat dripped down my back as the humid air buzzed with insects. I gripped the shoulder-height branch tighter in my hand, ignoring the burn of my thighs and hips. The softest of breezes caressed my face and I sighed, pausing to revel in the miniscule of things. The midday sun filtered haltingly through the trees, casting rays of half-golden light on the bramble and vegetation around me. My heart pounded with a steady rhythm, blood pumped through my veins making me grin. I placed my feet carefully in front of me, the dirt sunk beneath the lightest pressure and I had no wish to dirty my feet more than they already were.
The soft bubbling of a stream drew my attention and I sped forward, wanting to see the little river in its might. The dozer-carved path sloped down to a stream that was barely a foot across, then sloped back up to the rest of the wooded land. I crouched at the edge of the stream, dragging my fingers across the cool surface and shivered, it was icy and the tips of my fingers were numb. I glanced up as the wind stirred dead leaves in a spiral and blew my hair in my face. Brushing it aside impatiently I glanced to my left, eyes tracing the winding path the stream set. It widened and I knew it connected to the water flowing downhill, where the cattle and horses crossed, but I didn't know what lay between.
Growing curious I stood up straight and followed it path, a large blue cylinder, half-entombed within the side of a wall of sand that made up the bank of this small ravine. It was hollow, minus the pounds of sand in the barrel. At its mouth, the stream had a tiny waterfall, my gaze was drawn up-ward and my eyes widened in shock as I beheld what was before me. It was gorgeous and breathtaking, an almost perfect pool of water sat before me. Hidden by the steep mud wall and the fact that the land sloped up, not down. An area of soft sand lay in front of it, beckoning me to sit and gaze forever into the water. The pool itself was not that interesting, sitting about six feet in diameter and it was quite shallow, perhaps only four foot deep.
None of that mattered. Because before me lay a pool of cerulean. The water flowing into it was clear, I was able to spot the bottom of the bed, the same went for the water exiting the pool. No ripples disturbed its surface, the wind never reached it. It was perfectly still, holding no life, but able to maintain its own existence. A rush of breath left me as that thought hit me. It needed nothing to help it, nothing tainted its pure waters, nobody judged it, because no-one knew it existed. I sighed heavily, my breast fluttering with tangible longing. I sat back on my haunches, my brow creased with confusion, a million different emotions went through me. A single disturbing thought hit me and as I realized what it was I bit back a curse and sprang to my feet.
This was what I had come to. Being jealous of a bloody pool of water?!
Though, I knew the reason. We all go through it at some point, whether we realize it or not. The phase were we are nothing, where the world seems to rest on our shoulders. I knew that feeling, the feeling of helplessness as the world bathed in fire around you. I kneeled before the water, placing my gritty hands on my mud-strewn jeans. I looked up to see the sun had gone down quite fast, weak rays of light cast a reflective glare on the water. I leaned forward, flattening a palm and placed it over the water. I was barely touching it, the rough skin of my palm just barely grazing the surface. A faint smile crossed my lips, I was in power, I made my own decisions. carved my own bath. A pool of impossibly blue water could not dictate my fate, nothing but my own actions and life choices could.
That's how I found peace, found my Haven, my serenity. I found it looking back at me, reflected in a pool of blue water with a small grin plastered on its face, my own destiny. We choose the path our lives will take and what the desolate road has in store for us, all of us. You are the stone that can make big ripples or little waves in your own pool of cerulean.
Like the wind, we do not falter, but blow steady and strong. Like fire, we choose our own path, weeding out the old for a new generation. Like water, we wear down mountains, carving our names into eternity. Like the dirt, we shall nourish those who suffer. Like spirits, we shall not bow, but brave the oncoming storm.
