Happiness is not pleasure, it’s peace?
Happiness is not pleasure, its peace!
Do you agree?
If I heard this statement twenty years ago I would have said absolutely no way! We’re not here for a long time we are here for a good time! Quit your crazy talk and pass me the wine and a cigarette! Show me the pleasure, all of it, now.
My own recent trip to a beautiful volcanic landscape, combined with my birthday, and having 43 years behind me of often seeking both pleasure and peace, got me thinking about this and my mind has changed over the years.
These days I am much more inclined to agree, that happiness is indeed peace. It certainly is for me. That doesn’t mean pleasure is not good, it is. I like it, in fact I enjoy it immensely. From a hot coffee to an exciting adventure in a new land. Pleasures big and small help me get up in the mornings.
However…peace, that’s where the greatest moments come in. When I have peace I can enjoy all the pleasures big and small. That’s why I love mindfulness so much as it brings me peace and I can be in the moment. When I have not got peace of mind, everything is more difficult.
I’ve always loved this poem below, W. B Yeats describes the peace he finds in a little cabin.
Lake Isle of Innis Free
by W.B. Yeats
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
Anxiety: The thief of peace!
When I first heard this poem many years ago, it was at a festival and I was struggling with anxiety. In this excerpt from my novel below I mention a lovely man who turned this poem into a song and how he helped me shift my focus.
Adam turned W.B Yeats’s poem ‘Innisfree’ into an almost lullaby type song just him and the guitar. He sang, I will arise and go now, go to Innisfree, a small cabin I’ll build there, and I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slowly.
He explained to me how we all have our own Isle of Innisfree. His interpretation was that the poem is an invitation to live an empowered life. That we can all find the place where we feel free and at ease.
That sounded like something I was certainly interested in. I often got a lump in my throat when I listened to him because his voice tugged my heart strings strongly. He was so earnest but not in a sentimental manner, it was a healing voice. Everything he said I felt intuitively that it was true and coming from the heart. From The Lotus and the Tiger by Lizzy Shortall
Where is your own Isle of Innis Free?
I realize when I was actively pursuing pleasure back in my binge drinking days, what I was really seeking was peace. A break from the worries and insecurities of life. I was held together by make-up and tight jeans. At the weekends I would have a big blow out and consume all the pleasure.
It turned out, the temporary escape from reality, only doubled my lack of peace the next day. What goes up, must come down, there is another passage below from my novel that describes the coming down.
I had to go into the supermarket to get out some cash from the ATM. I kept my gaze down and prayed I would not see anyone I knew. Hangovers made me extremely self-conscious and almost paranoid.
It was as if I overdrew on exuberance and false confidence while drinking. The next day I had little, or nothing left. I was in the minus. The interest to be paid was all my self-worth and self-esteem. I would have to build it up again for the millionth time. From The Lotus and the Tiger by Lizzy Shortall
How to get your peace back when it flits away…my own three go to ways.
Thankfully binge drinking has not been my experience for nearly a decade now. I have learned how to relax and obtain real peace and when it leaves me I know how to get it back.
My three go to ways of doing that are through practicing:
Mindfulness, gratitude and self-belief.
You will find more about those topics in my books and on my website www.themindfulplayground.com
There’s lots of guided meditations on there too for adults and children.
If you have any thoughts or opinions on this topic do let me know!