I have kept a journal sporadically through the years. Consistency is not my strong point in this area—and, if I am honest, probably in most endeavors of my life. Life has interruptions. My mood changes. Sometimes I don’t have much to write about—it gets boring rehashing the same old things day after day. My attempts to slow down and keep a journal flow from the desire to live orderly and peaceful.
Peace is not something you wish for, it is something you make, something you are, something you do and something you give away.
— Robert Fulghum (b. 1937) American author and Unitarian Universalist minister
Writing everyday signifies that I have the time, the mental energy, and that it is important enough for me to actually do it. It means that I have slowed down my thoughts so that I can write them down. If I am writing, then maybe my life is orderly and peaceful.
Recently I have been assembling entries from journals through the years. I came across the phrase: orderly and peaceful. This is from email correspondence with a friend. Our conversations document my life for about ten years.
Friend: No one is complaining about the rain. It had gotten very dry. It’s time to harvest the pecans. Since I don’t know anything about this, I am very curious. I picked up a bagful of pecans off the driveway this morning. I rescued them from my car tires.
P: We had a house in Tuscaloosa that had a pecan tree. I think they produce every other year. Daddy bought a house for my sister and me when we were in school at the university—we called it the farmhouse. Later Gary and I lived there. We would gather pecans and mother took them to a place that shells them for you—for a fee. So much easier that way and they came out in nice halves! Some years there were so many that mother would freeze some. One of my favorite things has always been pecan pie!!
Friend: I have been around an occasional pecan tree. The church in Athens, Georgia had one on the back corner of the property and every now and then I saw people stop to pick up a few. I have never been around a pecan farm. This is forty acres of trees. I can’t get my head around the numbers. The trees are mature—forty years old. The limbs are so heavy with pecans that many have broken. The rain and wind we are having is knocking lots of them to the ground. Seeing the pecans on the ground is like leaving food on my plate. I feel like I should pick up all of them.
P: Forty acres!! That is a lot. One tree can produce a huge amount. Rows of trees like that are gorgeous to me. I love seeing farms with rows and rows of beautiful trees. Something about that is orderly and peaceful. I remember as a child when we would drive through South Alabama on our way to the beach—this was before interstates—we would see pecan groves. I was fascinated with them. As we whizzed by, I would look down the rows to see the huge trees with graceful branches arched over the paths. The neat rows looked like enchanted forests. The scene was otherworldly—especially if there was still morning mist in the air. I loved the orderly and peaceful feeling.
Friend: Orderly and peaceful. Sounds nice. Sounds like a life goal.
P: Well, yes it does! I think that is what has been missing all my life. At home we have been working for some time to get rid of extra stuff—terribly difficult for a collector and one who is drawn to interesting objects.
Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.
— Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) French novelist
Orderly and peaceful describes a state where everything is arranged in a structured, predictable manner and where there is an absence of conflict. I would love to think that this can be achieved. I think it may be, but is probably a process and not something that is accomplished all at once.
The challenge is to remain peaceful through the process and not wait for some future time when a goal is accomplished in order for everything to feel orderly and peaceful. The life goal is learning to treat each day with intention—with orderliness and a peaceful spirit.
Order means light and peace, inward liberty and free command over one’s self; order is power.
— Henri Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881) Swiss moral philosopher, poet, and critic
Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.
— Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622) Savoyard Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Geneva
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