Well, the intervals are getting longer and longer now. I should be making more of an effort to write more frequently; lest, one day, they’ll become too long. If you give them the slightest space, “valid” reasons will always take up all your time. Currently, for me, those are settling into a new job, new city, searching for a house while living out of a suitcase, foraging for food, etc. And to write, I need a calm and settled environment, especially given the themes of this blog.

But, as I said, these are just excuses. If there’s time to do anything else, then there’s time to write. It’s all about getting the priorities right. And then having the willpower to do what needs to be done.

Anyways, enough ranting. I’m here now. So, let’s begin.

Today, I want to share with you an important discovery that I made recently. Potentially as valuable as any treasure in the world. In fact, even better than a treasure as no one can steal it from me!

But first, some background: A while ago, I wrote about the importance of finding the “center” of one’s life. You can refer to that post for a more detailed discussion, but in short, the idea is that identifying one’s “center” can give meaning and purpose to one’s life, keep one oriented towards what really matters to them, and help deal with the vagaries of everyday life.

At the time of writing that post, I hadn’t yet discovered what that means for myself, but ever since then, that idea had been at the back of my mind.

Recently, while driving from one city to another, I came across a beautiful segment of the highway – a long, open, winding road through green mountains, in overcast conditions. I guess you could say there was nothing extraordinary or special about this, and one could easily expect to find this on any number of highways, on any number of days. But for us city folk, it’s a rare sight. And for me, that view was absolutely breathtaking! Even though I was tired from the drive, passing through that section of the highway, even though it was very short, left me invigorated. I’ve had to frequent that route since then, and I always look forward to that passage, sometimes even more than the destination itself.

And that’s when it hit me. I had, quite possibly, found my “center”! My “center” was around nature (see what I did there 😉

Being face-to-face with nature…there’s a certain serenity, a clarity. I feel privileged to be alive and to be part of that moment. I feel I can glimpse into the beauty of life, why it might be worth it after all. If there’s a Creator, I can see why he would want to create life, if only just to enjoy that moment in time. Those few moments can be quite strong and even overwhelming at times, and I think that’s about as close as possible that one can get to feeling what “peace” really means.

So, is my search for my “center” over? Just like that? Maybe. Maybe not. But armed with this realization now, and reflecting back on earlier experiences, it fits – being around nature does seem to do what my so-far-theoretical “center” is supposed to do – no matter the circumstances, provide an equilibrium between the outside and the inside; when everything else melts away; all there is, is just is.

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In that earlier post, I had talked about three ways how knowing the “center” can help us:

1) Dealing with life’s little “inconveniences” – Well, a straightforward example is the journey I talked about earlier, wherein I realized what my center was. And it’s not just about that one example – if I’m down, all it takes is a cool breeze, a full moon, the first drop of rain on dry soil, lightning, the sound of flowing water, golden rays of light through the clouds, or even just looking at the soothing green – any one of these is enough to take my mind away from any of the “inconveniences”.

2) Acting as a guiding star – Being around nature doesn’t affect this directly, but the knowledge of my center, is also knowledge about myself. It helps define who I am, and what I can be comfortable with. And now that I’ve found my center, I think I can use that awareness about myself to make choices accordingly.

3) Giving life a purpose and meaning – To be honest, I’m still thinking about this one – I’m not yet sure how my affinity for nature is going to give meaning and purpose to my life. Should I spend my life planting trees? Or maybe go live in a forest? Is the purpose of life just to enjoy the beauty of life itself? Thinking about this right now makes me wonder whether I should first define “purpose” and “meaning” more meaningfully – what do they mean to me exactly? But by asking these new questions, am I just trying to avoid and / or delay answering the main question with regards to my “center”? Maybe, maybe not; it’s difficult to say. But yes, I do think this last one needs more thought still about it’s relationship with my “center”.

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Hopefully, I didn’t bore you to death by now. But before I wrap up, a couple of final thoughts:

– I happened to discover my center simply by accident. It just came to me. And so, I can’t give anyone any pointers on how to find theirs. But I think there are signs that one can look for: what is it that brings you instant calm and peace? What is it that gets you out of bed in the morning? What is that activity that you are happy to do (or even think about) even at your lowest?

If you have something like that, that could be your “center”. Take a moment and think about that thing / activity right now. Take your time, no rush. Thought of something? Great! So, how did that make you feel? You’ll just know when you find your “center”. It’s like a light bulb going off in your head – instant illumination. As I said in my previous post, it could be anything – the people you love, your work, a place, or even something abstract like an idea.

– The other thing is that I think the “center” can shift, and change, over time – it doesn’t have to be the same thing for your entire life. After all, we change with time – new people, new environments, new thoughts – there are so many potential drivers of change.

And even though I feel the “center” should probably remain the “center” even as we change, I think it would be unwise to forcefully stick to the past, to one’s existing “center” even when one doesn’t feel centered around that anymore (note the words, “feel” and “think”). I don’t have enough life experiences to say anything with certainty at this point. So, I’ll do the next best thing: keep an open mind – if tomorrow, I feel centered around something else, I hope I wouldn’t be adamant about sticking to my current one.

* * *

So, that’s my tale of discovering the treasure of my “center”. I call it a treasure because I find this awareness to be quite valuable indeed. However, this discovery is still in the beta phase – I’m still ruminating over it to see if it’s a valid “center” for me or not. Tomorrow is another day, but today, it certainly looks promising.

If you haven’t found yours yet, I wish you the best of luck on this journey of discovery. And if you have, I would love to hear about it. So, please do share!

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Photo Credit: Bryan Minear on Unsplash