Coming
over the hill and dropping into the valley, I had a sudden moment of peace, one
of those periods of transcendence that happen occasionally while out
walking. A few jackdaws were calling
from the far side of the valley where a farmer was steering his quad bike
across the steep slope and driving his sheep up to the top. A pale sun shone low through the grey blanket
of cloud and the air was still. I felt then,
the word occurred to me, simple. No
particular thoughts in my head, no worries, no hurry and no dread. No agonising over the past, the future, what
I should be doing right there and then.
In the recent few days I had been suffering a recurrent but groundless
feeling like my heart was somehow broken.
And then, on that drab day in the Peak District, I had walked away from
it. There was just me, simply existing
in the landscape, taking it in, watching the wildlife, feeling my spirits lift
with the birds as they took off and wheeled above the gorse. This is the calmness I’m always wishing for
and the grace I feel when I’m blessed with it.
