Can We Ever Be Still in a World That Won’t Stop Moving?

A call for less dot com and more dot calm.

View of Dresden by Moonlight by Johan Christian Dahl, 1839 (public domain - Wikipedia)

“Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity, and a marvelous freedom from the tumult of the world.”
— Saint Aelred of Rievaulx, c. 1147

I recall the feeling of returning from a week out of the office a few years ago. I was “away,” the word suggests, but in truth, I was closer to the essential than the habitual.

For part of that time I banished WiFi, severed myself from the shock-tactics of social media. The relief was sharp, immediate — as though one’s inner ear were suddenly freed from the constant hum of a machine.

In the weeks before, I had shelved my newsletter. What began as a modest weekly publication for my own edification had drifted into an albatross: more topics, more links, more expectation than any mortal mind could sustain.

Casting it aside temporarily, I discovered the infinite rewards of absence: reading, musing, observing the quiet circuitry of the world that goes on when you are not compulsively watching.

The Greatest Treasure in Life

We stand in perpetual debt — to our roles, to screens, to the next update — yet we starve for silence, particularly when we’re dealing with Unending Grief.¹ At home, at work, in transit: serenity is the lost coin of modern life, more precious than gold.

To be tranquil is to be able to sit quietly and enjoy today without a nod to the past or a glance toward the future.

It seems trite when stated — and of course the great truths always do. But there is no small consolation in truth.

For most of us, serenity remains elusive. Youth gropes toward the uncharted horizon; age retreats into memory’s labyrinth. The future tantalizes²: blurred, expansive, and shaped by our hopes and our dread.³

But if we allow ourselves the chance to reflect, the present has an even greater compensation.