Jodi Quemelen

By definition, to be at peace means freedom from disturbance. I’m not sure if this fits my personal definition because I often feel at peace under small amounts of disturbance. I occasionally enjoy reading in local coffee shops, and 6/10 times I’ll have someone join me. Reading in a coffee shop with a friend where I can still hear chatter from others around us, a barista shouting out names, and the faint “ding” notification from someone’s phone doesn’t take away from my ability to feel 100% satisfied with the experience. Better yet, I’d almost encourage interruption in these moments from my reading partner because part of what makes it a better experience is when we can pause for a few minutes and reflect together on what we’ve read or learned in our respective books.

While some disturbances are more drastic or annoying than others, I think that being disturbed can also mean that you’re simply a part of things. Being a part of things can bring about more peaceful and enriching experiences. To be completely undisturbed can still feel nice in the short term, but doesn’t work as well for me in the long term.