A still mountain lake, reflecting the peaks and forests around it, like a mirror, unperturbed by any wind: This is the image that comes to mind to define the emotion of tranquility. Another word for this feeling is serenity.
There’s something within the idea of tranquility that holds nature in reverence. It’s the idea that, if we could only be free of the noise and distractions of civilization and its expectations, we would find a peace within ourselves that is always there.
Moments of tranquility liberate us from the tyranny of the clock and the calendar. They allow us to shake free of what we must do, giving us the space we need to recognize who we have the potential to be, on our own.
The truth is that we don’t always want tranquility. We don’t really want eternal peace. We love the tumult and turmoil of our industrialized lives… but not to the exclusion of the quiet, unmoved core.
We are not one thing. We want adventure, and the well-deserved moments of tranquility that come afterwards. The serene is but one face among the multitudes within us.
An excess of tranquility quickly turns to boredom.
