Trying to remain calm

In excessively trying times.

“Sunset Calm” by Karen Richards - 18 x 12 watercolor on paper.

Thank you to all my paid and free subscribers. Your support inspires me. I hope you continue to enjoy my musings and art. There are three buttons at the bottom of every post: “like,” “share,” and “comment.” Your interaction makes me happy and attracts new readers.

---

I’m still having trouble writing anything more than fragments of thoughts. But lately the words seem to organize themselves like a poem.

The way these writings emerge reminds me of painting. It’s like when I wet the paper and drop in colors, they mix on their own. Sometimes, I have to guide them in new directions, or edit them out altogether. At times, the compositions make sense. Other times, not so much.

I create to quiet the noise of the world and the negative thoughts in my head. Getting lost in the zone frees me. Here I find peace.

This writing was inspired by the painting above:

The Calm

There is a calm I feel

on the banks of the river.

The blue heron squawks as she leaps off the dock.

My dog sniffs the ground checking his messages.

A fish jumps out of the water hunting a bug.

There is a calm I feel

when my fingers touch the piano keys.

Music fills me with joy,

and longing,

and inspiration.

There is a calm I feel

each time I pick up a paintbrush.

Colors blend and transform.

Shapes develop.

Light emerges.

There is a calm I feel

when I escape into a book.

I stop thinking about politics,

and cancer,

and transplants.

There is a calm I feel

kissing my grandson’s head.

It smells like bananas,

or freshly mown grass,

or wet pennies.

There is a calm I feel

in the silence of my very small world.

Here I can let go of fear,

and anger,

and unresolved conflicts.

This calm empowers me

to allow each day to unfold as it will.

Whether I like it or not.

---