Beneath a stone bridge, hidden by bushes and trees was a river. It was no secret that it was there, it was just a little ways off from my own backyard, but it was mine all the same. Whenever anything bad happened or I just needed to think I would skip across the small stones to a much larger rock and spread my self out across it, basking in my own solitude.


Hard stone beneath my body, solid and comforting in it's stability. The smell of fresh water and the roar of the river around me, drowning out any doubt, fears, or anger from my mind and my body. A little piece of equanimity among a world swirling in chaos. There was no force in the world that could shake me from my place of peace when I was at my river. I was untroubled by the daily going ons of my life, carefree and light hearted.


I moved away though, leaving my river behind. At first it was hard to cope, I felt claustrophobic with no place to go. I learnt though that if I thought about it, and visualized it perfectly in my mind then it would take me back to that feeling. As I grow older I have discovered that it becomes less and less of a challenge to reach that place of peace. It had become less of an abstract thing and more of a solid thing to lean on and fill me with serenity.


It's seems magical to me, that a thing so simple as a river could take away all my worries when nothing else could. Therapy didn't help, and neither did confiding in friends. And yet that river, the simplicity of nature took it all away. Those little snatches of pure tranquility meant the world to me, I don't what I would have done without them.