This photo was just taken of me at my favorite beach. I love feeling completely at peace there.

For years, I’ve been searching for peace – the kind of peace that warms you up on the inside and lets you know in a huge way that everything – absolutely everything – is right in your world. The kind of peace that feels like a warm blanket wrapped around you or the hot sun shining on your face and making its way through your entire body. The kind of peace that feels like a deep, deep exhale. The kind of peace that feels grounded and solid and wise and loving all at the same time. The kind of peace that feels like heaven on earth. That kind.

I’m not completely immune to peace. I’ve had moments of it. But the moments were usually fleeting, where it seemed that I couldn’t sustain the calm that washed over me – and I was always sad when I felt it slipping through my fingers. I’ve also had moments where I knew that peace was available to me, but it seemed to be just beyond my reach.

I’ll admit that I have wished (more than once!) that I could go out and buy a bottle of “peace” – that I could just take something to make me feel at ease with myself and with the world. But I quickly realized that these wishes were just silly and that the kind of peace that I was looking for – the long-term, sustainable kind of peace that I knew was out there – wouldn’t come from a bottle – it had to come from within.

So I tried meditation and breathwork and slowing down and silence and all sorts of things with the hopes of finding this peace that I so desperately wanted. I knew that it had to come from inside of me, but I wasn’t sure how to find it. I thought that if I worked at it enough, I would be able to crack the code on peace once and for all. So I continued my search, which honestly just exhausted me and moved me further away from peace.

All the while, my soul kept asking me to get to the beach – to move there. It said that this was where I would heal, that this was where I would find peace. 

I fought it for a long time. I told myself that it wasn’t practical to move there. I said that it was a lot of work to move, and I just wasn’t feeling up for it. I worried that since I hadn’t ever been there before, I may not like it. I questioned whether my soul really knew what it was talking about. What if it was leading me to a place that was a nightmare and that would take me even further away from peace?

But the voice inside was strong and persistent. And, even with all of this questioning, I knew that I would be okay – better than okay. I knew in some deep place within me that the beach is where I would find peace, which is exactly what happened.

It’s hard for me to admit that finding peace was this easy. Somewhere inside of me, I have this belief that all things that are worthwhile can only be achieved with hard-earned effort. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I could immediately feel at peace – a peace unlike anything I’d ever known – simply by being at the beach. How is that even possible? Don’t you have to journal about it or go within and introspect about it and get to the core of where your lack of peace is coming from so that you can discover how to invite peace in? Don’t you have to struggle for a long while and exhaust yourself and your efforts in order to make the sweetness of peace be more appreciated? Don’t you?

No.

For me, I found peace at the beach. It’s honestly as simple as that.

I can be completely stressed out and angry and exhausted and worn down and strung out and ready to just crawl somewhere and curl up into myself… and then I get to the beach and within minutes, I can feel myself coming back to me. I can feel the stress and tension start to dissipate and float away. I can feel myself breathe deeply again. I can feel myself smile from within – a whole-body smile that makes me feel about a thousand pounds lighter.

Some people find peace in meditation. Some people find it during yoga. Some find it while creating. Some even find it while washing dishes. I find it at the beach.

What these things have in common is presence. That’s where peace can be found. In the present moment – in the now. And if the now is a beautiful ocean where the waves are crashing and the seagulls are flying overhead and the sand is warm on my feet and the sun shines on my face, then it’s hard (next to impossible) not to be present. The ocean envelops me and wraps me in its powerful energy. I don’t have room for anything in that moment other than it. That is peace for me. Being there. Being present. And feeling at one with everything.

I’m starting to see that it really is that easy, which is such a relief. No more struggling to find it. No more longing for it. Simply making the time to go and be there and allowing myself to feel what I’ve always wanted to feel: peace. Pure peace.

What I wish for all of us is to ease into peace – to allow ourselves to not try so hard to find it, but to instead go where we’re being led and trust that it will be exactly where we need to be. And when we’re there, to allow ourselves to be completely present, which will lead us to being completely at peace. And that’s such a magical place to be.

Hugs,