I was at my local Starbucks yesterday. Near the counter was a wishing tree. The idea is that customers take one of the little paper ornaments out of the box on the counter, write down what they are wishing for this holiday season, and put it up on the tree. As the line was fairly long I had some minutes to spend reading the wishes. I quickly noticed very few were people wishing for things. The majority of the wishes I read were people looking for connection—with others and with themselves.

Some of those wishes included:

Having all my family together

A puppy

Spending my life with him

Peace in my mind

Peace in my mind. That one hit me like an arrow.

“Peace in oneself, peace in the world.” Buddhist monk, teacher, and activist Thich Nhat Hanh often used this in his teachings. I have a piece of his art hanging in my office with just this phrase expressed inside an Ensō (the Zen symbol expressed in calligraphy as a circle which remains open), a symbol whose creation is a meditative act and which represents enlightenment or the true nature of reality, depending on who you ask.

Peace in my mind. It was both a wish and a teaching all in one, reminding me and calling all who read this wish to stillness. The stillness that is the true nature of each one of us underneath the chaos of thoughts and emotions. In a turbulent world with an ever-growing attention deficit, I can think of no better mantra as we enter the shortest and darkest days which precede the winter solstice here in the northern hemisphere.

Peace in my mind. I can choose where I place my attention.

Peace in my mind. Thoughts are transient, like waves. I can let them ebb and flow without attaching to them.

Peace in my mind. I can rest in the inherent wholeness which is the true nature of each of us. I am already enough.

Thank you, brave person, for the gift of your wish hung so bravely. May you find the peace and love which is your birthright. May you be easy with it.

With love,

Kathleen