“A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.”
~William Henry Davies

Do you have a method of dispelling stress in your life? What do you do when life gets so hectic that you feel you’re still running even though you’re sitting in a chair? When and where in your life are you completely at peace?

For me it’s in on the wharf at the shore in Cape Breton. This is where I sit and stare. There is a reason Cape Brettoners call Cape Breton “God’s Country” but I have my own. I spent my summers there, nearly all of them, growing up. For me it’s got peace built right in.

For most of the year (51 weeks, to be fairly exact) I’m not there, I’m here at home. Here: no wharf, no shore and no place of peace like the place I spent nearly all the summers of my life. I wanted to have a small retreat space at home so I created one.

It’s a corner which I’ve claimed for my own. In it is a rocking chair that used to be in the baby’s room. There is a small round table for a cup of tea on which sits a lamp, photo of Mom, a small terracotta bust of the Virgin Mary and the beautiful blue worry beads I purchased in Greece. Hanging on the wall with two peaceful original acrylics is my vision board; mostly words pasted on top of pictures. The featured wall-hanging is a long narrow frame with three photos taken on the shore at our summer place.

When I sink down into the rocking chair, surrounded by uplifting, positive images, I feel peaceful nearly immediately. I soak in the words and pictures on my vision board noting which ones have already come into my reality, feeling the ones which haven’t – yet. I gaze at the three photos of the shore then close my eyes and I’m there! I retain the photos in my mind’s eye and my body remembers what it feels like to be there; relaxed and peaceful.

Do you have a stress-busting place where you feel completely at peace? How do you dispel stress?

photo credit: Lori