Chasing Peace

A year ending, a year beginning—

times of reflection on what has been,

and what’s to come.

Standing at the edge of uncertainty,

searching for a place to unpack

a backpack heavy with lessons.

It’s filled with shoulds and should-nots,

but mostly fears,

and the fragile hope of better things.

Yet it never feels light.

We’re all addicts to destinations,

charmed by mental images of places

we’ve never been—

so certain of their magnificence

that the present moment feels

poorly ordinary.

Vision boards and notebooks brimming with to-do lists,

days weighed down by restless minds—

frantic working, relentless comparing,

hustling to earn more,

just to afford more breaks.

We build towers of luxury

only to dream of lying peacefully in a forest,

not caring about dirty clothes

or phone signals lost in the quiet.

What are we doing?

Loving the idea of peace,

but cheating on it with an obsession for prestige.

Addicted to the promise of rest someday,

never letting the present moment

cleanse us of this longing.

There’s peace here,

exactly as it is—

but somehow the habit of wanting to be elsewhere swipes the peace aside,

leaving us chasing futures

that, when they come,

become the present we ignore again—

trading it for yet another dream.