What’s your Peace?

Grits said:
Set up a video camera every once in a while and tell stories. Don't let him know you're doing it. Save them to disk or CD or something. When he's older he will cherish being able to go back and see them.

People today live in a time that was only a wish when I was growing up. Flip phones were star trek communicators as a kid for me. Video. Email. The world at your fingertips.

Keep some secrets only to be let out of Pandora's box after you're gone.

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Great idea!
 
Miss Lily said:
I did not go back to see if I posted before...

Campsite with no one around, fire, no electronics, just quiet. There is sooo much peace in the woods/nature.

When that is not feasible; a good book, comfy chair, fire in the fireplace, a cup of tea (or glass wine depending on time of day).
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Totally agree on both!
 
Chdamn's Wife said:
Had the best dinner tonight with @Chdamn and our son. We told him stories (clean ones) from our pre-child days. He thought they were hilarious. I wish I could have bottled that dinner. Precious moments I won’t soon forget.
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Do your grandkids (yeah, it is coming, trust me!) a favor and you and Chad sit down (separately), and tell stories about your childhood. Mention telephones and typewriters and tvs in black and white (if you had those) and all the things you knew growing up. Tell stories of school and friends and your interactions with your parents and (sanitized) stories of your rebellion, and stories of your siblings.

Put those on CDs or on zip drives (CDs are better for long term data storage) and then give those to your grandchildren when they become young adults, or put them as part of your will, or both. Carole and I sat down with all 4 grandmothers (grandfathers had all passed by our marriage) and did that. We found ourselves fascinated and enraptured at these greyheaded shriveled old women who suddenly became schoolgirls again with crushes and hopes and expectations of youth, and actually felt somewhat like we were "pulled backward" in time... to the first automobile in my home town, times when all houses were coal heated and therefore small coal mines were a big deal, no chain grocery stores but instead small stores that sold all kinds of goods, the first telephones, first tvs, times when family time around the radio on Sat evenings was big stuff...... It will be a treasure and like a verbal history book.
 
tanstaafl72555 said:
Do your grandkids (yeah, it is coming, trust me!) a favor and you and Chad sit down (separately), and tell stories about your childhood. Mention telephones and typewriters and tvs in black and white (if you had those) and all the things you knew growing up. Tell stories of school and friends and your interactions with your parents and (sanitized) stories of your rebellion, and stories of your siblings.

Put those on CDs or on zip drives (CDs are better for long term data storage) and then give those to your grandchildren when they become young adults, or put them as part of your will, or both. Carole and I sat down with all 4 grandmothers (grandfathers had all passed by our marriage) and did that. We found ourselves fascinated and enraptured at these greyheaded shriveled old women who suddenly became schoolgirls again with crushes and hopes and expectations of youth, and actually felt somewhat like we were "pulled backward" in time... to the first automobile in my home town, times when all houses were coal heated and therefore small coal mines were a big deal, no chain grocery stores but instead small stores that sold all kinds of goods, the first telephones, first tvs, times when family time around the radio on Sat evenings was big stuff...... It will be a treasure and like a verbal history book.
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Will definitely take some time to do this.
 
@tanstaafl72555, @Grits, that's some really good stuff there. I just told Kelly about this, and doing this with her parents. Kelly's kids don't have any kids yet, but how cool would that be for them to have something like that from their great grandparents. Thanks for the idea's.
 
Anyone who says a person that loves guns and the 2 Amendment, is shallow, insecure, or violent needs to read this thread. We are defiantly deeper individuals than most. A lot of good stuff in this thread. I can tell you from first-hand experience any letter, audio, or video of your parents or grandparents is priceless to a child and adult who suffered losing them at an early and untimely death. Many days I have sat down and read letters and looking at pictures from Dad while he was in Vietnam. I'm 50 now and to this day I still have to fight back the tears when reading some of them. Gaining a new level of understanding him is one thing that brings me peace.

Going fishing, hunting, or shooting with my children and grandchildren brings me peace. Something about passing on the knowledge I learned from my family as I was a child satisfies my soul. Cooking for family and friends, then sitting down to enjoy the food and conversations. Sitting around the fire bowl with family and friends, sipping on bourbon or a beer, telling past stories (which may or may not have been embellished of the years lol), or talking about future adventures. When I need some alone time to download a stressful event from work, I will go hiking, find a quiet little spot, build a small fire and sit back watching the fire dance, listening to the crackle and what mother nature is saying through her many ways of talking to us. It's almost as if the fire burns away the stress and brings me back to normal.
 
I used to find it in triple digit speeds in one of my hotrods or on one of my motorcycles.Not so much anymore as it just isn't safe to do so anymore on the roads around me.

I enjoy watching my sons sleep.

I enjoy spending time outside with them(like pitching and hitting baseballs to them yesterday).

Listening to music takes me away.

Listening to the ocean when all else is quiet.Waves hitting the beach wipes it all away.

Meditating so I can clear my head before I go to sleep.
 
Excellent question! (I don't know how I missed it until just now!)

1. Listening to certain music, or reading certain books.
2. Being alone outdoors (doing pretty much anything, including nothing).
 
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JT said:
Excellent question! (I don't know how I missed it until just now!)

1. Listening to certain music, or reading certain books.
2. Being alone outdoors (doing pretty much anything, including nothing).
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Reading is a precious past time that it seems I have very little time to do, so when I get the time and get to dive into a good book, it’s just the best. It also made me think of curling up under a blanket during a cold and rainy winter day and hunkering down for a Harry Potter marathon. That brings me peace, too.
 
Chdamn's Wife said:
Reading is a precious past time that it seems I have very little time to do, so when I get the time and get to dive into a good book, it’s just the best. It also made me think of curling up under a blanket during a cold and rainy winter day and hunkering down for a Harry Potter marathon. That brings me peace, too.
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I have hated tv since college, and used to read constantly. Carole, when she was talking about this guy who seemed to be stalking her, and she had some interest (God knows why!!!!), told her mom "I think he reads like a book a day or something."

My reading has (sadly) shifted a lot to the web. Some out of laziness, some because we have had a damned WAR in my house whether I could get a simple recliner with reading lamp beside it (I still can't... Carole says they are "too ugly") and she insists on lamps rather than bright overhead lights. I finally gave up in disgust and bought myself a Harbor Freight headlamp and have begun moving back to books vs online reading. Online is great, though, just because of the almost infinite variety of subjects out there. Right now I am memorizing all of the chess openings (there are 5 major families and about 100 variations of each!).

I will say that arranging my shop, building bins and shelves and organizing my tools brings a strange contentment that was never the case so much when I was younger.
 
About once every week I get up very early and have a few glorious minutes when my coffee is hot, my dog lays her head on my lap, I don't have to pee and the youtube video I'm watching doesn't start with an ad.

My life is pretty great all the time, but these moments are transcendent.
 
Motorcycle riding brings me peace. Being so focused on solely riding that you're able to clear your head of everything else. Feeling/hearing the engine, clicking down a gear and rev matching a downshift, planning your turn in and looking at your apex, twisting the throttle, etc. It clears my mind every time and for that I always leave with a smile on my face and a feeling of tranquility.

Driving is another, but specifically back roads in a sports car. Windows down, music off. The engine/exhaust note as the only soundtrack needed. A perfectly executed heel/toe downshift, getting on the throttle just a little bit early coming out of a turn with just the right amount of steering input and gradually rolling into the throttle to hear the car rip and bang the next gear. Lovely.

Less so now, but modding and working on cars. Planning a build and buying parts sucks time and leaves you poor. Wrenching on them is usually frustrating without a lift and proper tools, but that feeling you get when you're done with that day's project is always rewarding. Stand back and enjoy your work just the way you pictured it. That first start up after a new exhaust install, or the new stance after a suspension install is always a zen feeling.

As I've grown older, and slightly less selfish, it has become doing the things that the wife enjoys doing. I'm not much of a hiker or lover of nature, but knowing that hiking in the woods with our dogs is what brings her peace gives me some too. Making her laugh or bringing a smile to her face gives me great satisfaction.
 
MichaelHK said:
Motorcycle riding brings me peace. Being so focused on solely riding that you're able to clear your head of everything else. Feeling/hearing the engine, clicking down a gear and rev matching a downshift, planning your turn in and looking at your apex, twisting the throttle, etc. It clears my mind every time and for that I always leave with a smile on my face and a feeling of tranquility.

Driving is another, but specifically back roads in a sports car. Windows down, music off. The engine/exhaust note as the only soundtrack needed. A perfectly executed heel/toe downshift, getting on the throttle just a little bit early coming out of a turn with just the right amount of steering input and gradually rolling into the throttle to hear the car rip and bang the next gear. Lovely.

Less so now, but modding and working on cars. Planning a build and buying parts sucks time and leaves you poor. Wrenching on them is usually frustrating without a lift and proper tools, but that feeling you get when you're done with that day's project is always rewarding. Stand back and enjoy your work just the way you pictured it. That first start up after a new exhaust install, or the new stance after a suspension install is always a zen feeling.

As I've grown older, and slightly less selfish, it has become doing the things that the wife enjoys doing. I'm not much of a hiker or lover of nature, but knowing that hiking in the woods with our dogs is what brings her peace gives me some too. Making her laugh or bringing a smile to her face gives me great satisfaction.
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This is a great post. Thanks.
 
It once was SCUBA diving. The world of air did not exist while I was under water. I hated to return to the world above. Duck hunting was my passion for many years when I had good places to hunt. All other types of hunting pale in comparison, even quail hunting behind a good dog. I no longer do mush of either SCUBA or duck hunting due to a variety of causes. Perhaps some day again. I get the most peace these days from working my land with my tractors keeping my trails and food plots in good shape. I get the most joy from helping get my wife back into good shape again after her being close to death a while ago. She is getting there.
 
Stick Man said:
@tanstaafl72555, @Grits, that's some really good stuff there. I just told Kelly about this, and doing this with her parents. Kelly's kids don't have any kids yet, but how cool would that be for them to have something like that from their great grandparents. Thanks for the idea's.
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My dad is from a big family (14 brothers & sisters), and one of his sisters sat down with their mother (my grandma), over the course of one summer in mid-90's, and video recorded question and answers of her life when she was young, and the difficulties and joys of raising 14 young'uns starting in 1930's thru early 1950's. The sister made dvd's of those recordings, for everybody in the family. Grandma passed in 2003, (just shy of her 90th bday), and we cherish those precious moments frozen in time, that we have on dvd, just to see her, and hear her voice again. I'm so glad my aunt did that !
 
KellySue said:
My dad is from a big family (14 brothers & sisters), and one of his sisters sat down with their mother (my grandma), over the course of one summer in mid-90's, and video recorded question and answers of her life when she was young, and the difficulties and joys of raising 14 young'uns starting in 1930's thru early 1950's. The sister made dvd's of those recordings, for everybody in the family. Grandma passed in 2003, (just shy of her 90th bday), and we cherish those precious moments frozen in time, that we have on dvd, just to see her, and hear her voice again. I'm so glad my aunt did that !
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How cool! I love this.
 
Charlie said:
It once was SCUBA diving. The world of air did not exist while I was under water. I hated to return to the world above. Duck hunting was my passion for many years when I had good places to hunt. All other types of hunting pale in comparison, even quail hunting behind a good dog. I no longer do mush of either SCUBA or duck hunting due to a variety of causes. Perhaps some day again. I get the most peace these days from working my land with my tractors keeping my trails and food plots in good shape. I get the most joy from helping get my wife back into good shape again after her being close to death a while ago. She is getting there.
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I have not been scuba diving but even just from watching videos of scuba diving it seems like you are transported into a different world. And I sure hope your wife continues to improve. Glad she still here with us. Sounds like she has a lot of support from you.
 
Chuckman said:
It used to be running. After the first painful half mile or so I could just breathe and meditate, and the miles would just allow worries to melt away. Now, who knows? I have not really felt "peace" in a long time.
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I hope you find a replacement! We all need a little peace in this world.
 
Cuddling with my children:
My boys and I were always affectionate, but they are getting older and not as inclined to do so often, but when they are willing...I can actually feel my mind resetting.
My 6 year old daughter never stops moving, so stopping for Papa is inconvenient, but when her world stops functioning as she expects, it is wondrous to know these old arms still have a little magic left in them...She keeps me wanting to try.
 
TheWallrus said:
Cuddling with my children:
My boys and I were always affectionate, but they are getting older and not as inclined to do so often, but when they are willing...I can actually feel my mind resetting.
My 6 year old daughter never stops moving, so stopping for Papa is inconvenient, but when her world stops functioning as she expects, it is wondrous to know these old arms still have a little magic left in them...She keeps me wanting to try.
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That got me in my feelings. I know the feeling. I keep hoping to eek out a few more years of snuggles and hugs.
 
I enjoy going to State or National parks. Seeing the land the way it used to be. Listening to waterfalls and watching animals. We went to Cades Cove for our 26th anniversary. It was relaxing to we let it all go. We have very poor cell phone service there so we can disconnect. Stayed in a small hotel in Townsend Tennessee. Picked up BBQ Thursday, grilled steaks Friday night, and had hamburgers Saturday night. We came home Sunday and the phone started ringing before we got out of the mountains.
 
I don't have any grandkids of my own so, I borrowed one. This is my niece's son and he's a great kid. He and his sister have brought me a lot of pleasure. She won't stay still long enough to get a picture of her. Haha Maybe later.

TrevorandPixie.jpg
 
I desperately need to find a new one. I don't think I currently have a one.

Fishing Kayak on a quiet piece of water but I never go anymore.....
Full moon rides on the 4 wheeler but I don't have one anymore and I'm too responsible to take off down the road on one now.
Range time is always great but don't want to burn the ammo now. I haven't been in a month or two.
Been shopping firearms this year which I've enjoyed but now I wake up worried about money. (I have no need to worry, probably guilt)
Love spending time with my wife and I've been working from home since March so that's been great.
Went for a brisk walk yesterday, 2 miles @ 14 mins a mile. I did enjoy that quite a bit. Although I should choose something other than RUSH to listen to. Look forward to doing that again and my scale says I need to do it more often.

Maybe this is why I have hypertension? LOL
 
Playing bass with my band. They're all like family to me. We cut up and laugh, eat, have a few beers, and generally have a great time together. I like playing out live in front of people. But we have such a good time that I don't even care if we do it in front of people.

Something about locking in with a good drummer just "takes me there".
 
Today...50 degrees overcast...folks on the way...good conversation between good men. Laughter, food, coffee, gun smoke, gun lube. Men with hard hands shaking hands with men with soft hands.
This weather, with boots and long sleeved britches, vests and big hats and the smell of leather from well worn holsters.
The South is my fortress, Horry is my permanent residence, Battery Oaks is my safe place.
Today is @RS birthday. Born in 1966 she is 3 years older than my daughter. Ronnie Sue is my rock.
@Chdamn's Wife used a phrase a while back that I have stolen. I can't imagine a spouse hearing anything that would ever make them feel more loved. Amy said....He makes me a better person. 6 words that express All a person can hope for in a mate.....@RS makes me a better person. Happy Birthday my Darling.
 
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