‘Tranquillity’, the word conjures up various differing ideas for people based upon their ideal definition of what is peaceful utopia. It tends to be a unique position where you find yourself in a place unexpectedly where the surroundings leave you in broad agreement with life in general. It manifests itself as differing things to different people, and one person’s ideal utopia can be a complete opposite to someone else.
Such is the magnitude of the word itself that some bright spark named an area of the moon Tranquillity base. For a lot of people, it seems to revolve around a sunny day with light winds where the world appears to be at ease with itself. You can see regularly situations where the ingredients needed are there and the harmony that transcends from being in and around Tranquillity is succeeded by nothing in life.
Invariably the word is used in conjunction with either spring or summer months but there are rare winters days where the season doesn’t live up to expectation and on rare occasions the phenomenon gives us a unique gift of a special day.
Examples of tranquillity can include the day fisherman who, while sitting in his or her bivvy on the side of the riverbank, watching their float on the still river whilst the sunsets, witnesses a kingfisher skittering along the surface about a foot above the water hunting its lunch, leading to a feeling of extreme agreement with life in general.
Similarly, there are rare days when airborne in your cloudhopper, feeling the elements upon your skin, with the sunrays basking on the side of your face, as you drift along, you witness nature in its rawest form, silent, majestic and natural with the wildlife undisturbed by your presence and interacting silently as you slide by.
Back to the river, watching a canoeist gracefully negotiating the flow with a rhythm that is metronomic and easy. To see the ease at which the blades slice through the water with minimal disturbance, reminds you that Tranquillity encompasses a feeling of man and machine in harmony together, with the more complete interaction seemingly less strenuous.
In a busy household with children buzzing around, those rare moments when everyone else goes out and you are left with perfect silence and an ability to reflect on your surroundings without intervention can also seem like utopia and a moment to treasure.
Sunrise and Sunset always seem to encompass the key ingredients that most of us need when we consider Tranquillity, but one thing that is very apparent is the fact that our sensory perception of the elements around us are heightened with the stillness and cleanliness of the purity of the moment, we all seem to agree with the effects that it delivers.
While we take for granted this unique free gift that mother nature bestows upon us, whatever form in which you find yourself in Tranquillity, just make sure you enjoy the moment for what it is. Pure, unmolested and a free experience that needs to be savoured because there is no guarantee when the next time will come along. I hope this small appreciation of the phenomenon has left you reminded of a pleasurable moment in your own personal book of life.
Steve Roake.