Roiling in my head
I notice a point
Centre of the storm
Centre of my being
Around which all
The turbulence pivots
There’s calm there
I fight my way toward it
Seeking the source of such peace
But bucked and buffeted
By the tumult
I make no headway
In the intensifying storm
Exhausted
I relax
And breathe
Breathe deeply
Shifting my mind
From the churning rapids
To a quiet
Encompassing peace
Which settles upon me
In the calm centre
I open my mind
Observe the commotion
Swirling around me
The source of my distress
Is the chaos of thoughts
Powered by worry
By fear
By attachment
To what should be
To what should not
I accept what is
And the lightning stops
I accept what is not
And the thunder quiets
I forgive myself
And the wind dies down
I find the beauty
In all things
And the skies clear
I find the love
At the centre of my being
And the sun burns brightly
In an azure sky
In the beautiful day
Which is my being
I contemplate again
The external world
Impermanent
Conditioned
I sort out
Attachments from essentials
I sort out
What action can influence
What it cannot
Then I settle into
The work of being
Nairn Falls Provincial Park
Pemberton
British Columbia, Canada
Taken yesterday, 2017
The Pic and a Word Challenge is a weekly creativity prompt offered Sundays.
Each week I provide a photograph of mine along with a single word. The challenge? Use the pic and/or word as points of inspiration to create something — a photograph, a painting, prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, longread or just a few words. You are welcome to use these two elements (photograph and word) literally, thematically or metaphorically. If you create both images and words, all the better.
To participate:
- Use any title you like
- Your response can be words and/or an image
- You may use my image in your post, or any image you have created
- Place the challenge’s Pic (if you use it for inspiration) and Word prominently in your post
- Mention that you are responding to the Pic and a Word Challenge
- Add a link to this post in your response
To help us find your response — whether on WordPress, Instagram, Flicker, Tumblr, etc. — you can also:
- Add a comment on this post to announce your response
- Apply the tag/hashtag “Pic and a Word Challenge” or “#picandawordchallenge” to your post
Each week, I’ll list the previous week’s responses at the end of the new challenge. I may also share some on my social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc.
Three responses to Stars this week. Thanks everyone! =)
View all the Pic and a Word Challenges, including the current challenge, on the Pic and a Word Challenge tag page.