Comfort through energy

Stick with me. I know the concept of ‘energy’ (outside the electrical type of energy) can seem a bit woo-woo.

If you think too deeply, the electrical energy is a bit beyond belief too – something that we can’t see, calculated with imaginary numbers, yet we see the outcomes and understand a bit about how to generate, harness and manipulate it to make pretty crazy things happen. I have a degree in the stuff, and the more you think about it the crazier it is as a concept. To our ancestors it would have seemed woo-woo, yet here we are with it a critical, recognised part of every day life.

I’m beginning to understand more about other sorts of energy. I’ve been aware of it for a while, and frequently brush it off as something that crazy old ladies made up to fill the time. Here, in Fiji, I’m changing my mind. Maybe I’ve just become a crazy old lady myself…

I’ve seen the true effect that someone’s positivity can have on others. Fijian culture is beautifully friendly and open, with their greeting of ‘Bula!’ seeming to come from deep within. You feel their energy and welcome.

Last week I went diving with Bull sharks at Beqa lagoon. Where usually you’d be fearful in the company these apex predators, the guides maintained a sense of calm. You could feel the calm from them and it made you calm too. It was catching. It allowed you to appreciate the beautiful, powerful creatures before you, sometimes swimming straight at you, with a sense of amazement rather than fear. If a shark came too close the guides would gently redirect it with sticks they carried – not punishing the shark for being curious, just helping it understand a boundary and assisting it to move its large body in a different direction. The guides were calm, the sharks were calm, all was well.

I used to experience this with cows when I was on the farm. If we were calm, the cows were calm and would be much more cooperative. If any one of us was stressed, the cows would pick up on it, start being pushy with each other and with us, and would try to kick a lot more. Whenever I think about this (and writing that last sentence) I was transported back to the yard, making myself as calm as could be, hoping it would be catching. I even forgot where I was for a moment. It was a very ‘zen’ feeling, and I discovered when I worked with the cows in this state I would lose all concept of time, it just took as long as it took and that was ok because everyone left happy.

I think I need to apply this to other areas of my life. Get a routine, become purposefully calm, and just be fully present with what I’m doing. Too often in the ‘busyness’ of life, we try to multitask. For example, when watching leadership calls, I often have Tetris or some other mindless (but nonetheless distracting) thing occurring in the background to keep my hands busy. However, in doing so, I’m losing some of the magic of the call, and also exhausting my mind in the process. I’m not sure why I do it, but it just helps me sit still I guess. Something I need to work on.

In a world where busy is considered a sign of importance, be the calm in the storm. Be the peace.

See the impact your peace might have on others.