A Peacescription

The current state of the world has disrupted a lot of our peace. At the end of each episode we asks our guests “what brings you peace?”. This episode is a pause in the regular programming but a focus on that question, bringing you one collected, yet varied peacescription. A necessary break to reflect on what’s keeping us rooted in peace.

Transcript from a recording published 6/10/20

please excuse any typos. link to listen to the recording of this transcript here

Taylor Camille: Typically Beyond Our cells is a podcast where I Taylor Camille share the stories by those living a life fully and beyond any stigma or perceived limitations a health condition may have on their day to day lives. In the past couple of weeks, a lot of my peace has been disrupted.

So much so that I thought it was important to disrupt my programming for this week.

I really wanted to check in with friends on, what’s been bringing them peace at this time. For me, I’ve had a really hard time going outside, but when I go outside it’s life changing. And then just little things like reading a book, stepping away from a screen have made me feel immense peace. In the past week or two in particular for black people especially in America and we’ve seen it gone global. It’s been a weird time. I know for me, my phone has been blowing up and I’m already kind of a hermit in quarantine as to like who I’ll pick up from, or if I have the energy to FaceTime. And so I’ve been very cautious with that.

But then with the uptick of check-ins from friends trying to make sure you’re okay. And Mmm, just a lot of reflection happening, but also feeling like I’m not in a space where I can reflect feeling like I need to respond to a text right away or just feeling disturbed. I just really felt like my peace was disrupted and it’s not a bad thing. Like I think the disruption of peace that is being brought to the streets is a really good thing, but I think it’s important that that doesn’t carry to our everyday lives, that we try to sort through this stuff and find some peace.

So I don’t know if you’ll find this as touching as I while I was editing it and sifting through some of the pieces. I said, audibly, this is so special. And maybe for me, it’s special because I recognize these voices, but I hope that it can be special for you too.

I hope that you can find some peace in all of this. I hope that you can find some stillness. I hope you can hear a bit of yourself in some of these. Most of them are anonymous except for our last special voice but I hope these listenings leave you with a warm heart and a cool mind

Beyond our Cells will be back to regular programming next week, Wednesday.

Varied speakers:

It was really hard to answer this question of what brings me peace, because I kept reverting to the things that make me happy, like my niece, or, you know, a show that’s like funny and distracting, but I think what truly brings me peace is allowing myself to feel the weight of whatever emotion I’m feeling and being able to release that emotion and sit with it and sit with the quietness of the moment that comes after that.

What brings me peace drawing or painting, lighting my incense in the morning and saying a little prayer, saging my room after cleaning, fresh air. And the sounds of nature evening walks listening to my music on my balcony. Baths. And sleep.

in general, I would say music brings me peace specifically when I’m in the car with the radio cranked up bopping to the beat, there’s something about the way it fills my soul. The way I can sing without judgment, the way I don’t care who sees my joy as I drive by it calms my spirit.

I think peace to me is going to sound kind of cliche is, is if we looked at humanity as one large family, together, all with different functions and different purposes in the world. I just think that if we could all see our differences as things to celebrate. And not things to put down and yeah, that’d be a much more peaceful place.

being surrounded by my loved ones I find myself feeling really at ease and like content when I’m just surrounded by people that I truly love my friends, my family

walking, but like getting to look around at my surroundings brings me peace and the clouds. I have a thing for clouds. I’m a visual person, so. I like to be in nature and surrounded by things that remind me of God and that the world is, you know, something bigger than us. And it’s just working in my favor.

I think that’s when I feel the most at peace.

The sounds of nature, bring me peace. It reminds me how intentional God is in his creation. And I am comforted to know that a higher divinity is in control.

I find peace in moments of stillness in moments of meditation, prayer, moments of gratitude, and those moments really do help me escape from the stresses of my life. And even if it’s just for a few minutes, I found that for myself, they provide the sense of calmness.

And in that calmness, I can remind myself that my emotions are only temporary, that my emotions only have so much control and so those moments really remind me why it is important for me to find joy.

What brings me peace is seeing my family happy, knowing that they’re safe. What also brings me peace, self-medicating with marijuana, food, clothing and shelter.

taking time to myself, trader Joe’s is actually my happy place. Like that’s therapy for me. So when I need to be by myself and just let it all out and think, I really enjoy going to trader Joe’s. Now, sometimes that ends up being money spent that doesn’t need to be spent, but I feel more relaxed when I leave.

My tribe also brings me peace.

Being with my friends and family. Being able to just sit down and talk, you know, fellowship have a good time, whether it be about the things that are going on, whether it be about some of the stresses that we’re dealing with, just being able to have that dialogue has been really important to me and helps me ground myself and helps me, reevaluate, take that time, take that breather with the people that I love.

at a time like this, I’m not even sure what really brings me peace, you know, normally a day to unplug and have a nice meal with music blasting can bring so much peace, especially after a long day at work or like a rough workweek. But now in this time,

first of all, it’s super hard to unplug, you know, you want to have a peace of mind and like stay away from a lot of the things that we’re seeing on social media, but then at the same time, You are using social media to learn and try and figure out all these things that are going on. And that’s your way of connecting and like getting your voice heard and making sure the message is spread.

So it’s not so easy just to unplug I would definitely say more recently, especially after a super reflective and successful Ramadan, I have been just turning to Allah to bring peace.

Honestly, I don’t have peace. My brain’s always kind of on go and especially with everything going on right now, I can’t seem to find my peace. I feel like I’m, it’s like constant quest. Searching for like a peace of mind or a peaceful moment

I think if we all did our own personal work to find peace internally, the differences and other people would not feel like a threat and thus, we would not be where we are today.

So I remember one time my therapist asked me what was the goal of me seeking therapy. And I responded that I wanted to achieve inner peace. she straight up laughed in my face. I was shook, but I mean, she was right. It’s not something that I can necessarily check off a list and I had to learn to accept it as an active practice. And most importantly, as a mindset,

it’s feeling the emotion and then allowing myself to kind of move through it.

I’ve been getting peace from getting out in nature and I’ve actually gotten back into meditation as well that’s been giving me peace.

Some days when I’m just like, all right, I’m just going to go outside and read my book and have nothing to do with, what’s been going on, on social media, on the news, anything for like a few hours that definitely does bring peace.

Going to a protest feels deeply cathartic to see all of these people who believe in the same thing I believe. And for me to cry as we chant or for me to tear up what I see a little kid holding up a sign or a really old person who could be deeply affected by COVID, but it’s still out there protesting.

When I see those things, I have access to the emotions that are kind of like humming right under the surface and keeping me from my peace. And when I’m able to release that emotion, either by crying or by talking through it, or by just being with these people, I feel so deeply at peace and it’s momentary, and usually requires that I just sit with that in, in the quietness of my apartment, without any music, without a podcast playing without anything else playing for me to sustain that peace for a little bit longer.

I feel that stillness is what I crave the warmth of the sun on my skin. As I lay in the grass, the sounds of the ocean waves crashing. When I arrive at the shore, the tight embrace I share with my partner in the middle of my workday, the sips of coffee in my kitchen when I take a break, I long to simply be present and be still.

I think the things that have allowed me to feel peace in this season is it’s pretty simple, but it’s just allowing myself to feel what I need to feel at the time. I think, you know, growing up we’re just, I don’t know, this is an awakening for some people, but for like someone like me or people that look like me, this has just been a reality forever.

And so you kind of get numb to it in a weird way, as much as one could ever be numb to it. and I think this was the first time around, in a long time where I was like, Oh right. I’m allowed to like be mad. I’m allowed to be mad that people are still denying stuff like this. I’m allowed to be mad that this is the reality.

Yeah. It’s been, it’s been really healing for myself to like speak to myself in that way. And then other times where I just lead to like, kind of get away, I’ve just been really big on like monitoring my heart and giving it what it needs in that time. And that’s brought me a lot of peace.

It’s just a sense of being grounded and being present in my conversations that I’m having with some of my best friends, it may seem like such an obvious thing, but sometimes you just need to hear from people who know you, who really know you and be able to challenge yourself and challenge others to have easy conversations, difficult conversations, whatever it may be.

I’m just finding a lot of peace in that because it makes me know that people aren’t just sitting back and accepting everything that’s going on and treating it. Like it’s just another day. People are really holding themselves to task myself included, and that’s a form of peace in and of itself growth.

I’m finding peace in the best ways I know how to right now. And for me, that means leaning on and being leaned on.

in this current time, things are a little different, with everything going on in the world, it’s kind of hard to find inner peace with family and friends or just talking to other people. So with what’s going on lately, I’m finding my inner peace in being alone in turning off the TV and turning off social media and just taking a break.

Though there’s a lot going on. And though, all of it is very important and the discussions need to be had it’s draining. It hurts to have to reflect on it. It, it becomes unfair and that sounds selfish to say, but it’s something that I need. With the hard times going on as a black male, I already fear for my life, but to see, and to deal with all of the things that are going on in our country, all the injustices, it’s easier for me to find my peace in turning it all off, turning off technology, turning off the radio, turning off the TV and just, just taking the time for myself to reflect,

That’s what really helps me find my peace.

right now what brings me peace is seeing how many people are coming together during these crazy times. I really feel like it’s us against the world. And it’s insane to see like the younger kids than me. And then just people of all colors. When I went to the protest on Saturday, Sunday, sorry.

It was just really heartwarming, the energy just felt different and. That was peaceful to me. It felt like we actually have a chance at changing something finally, and that felt really nice. I’ve felt exhausted the past two weeks. And that was the first time in two weeks that I, I felt okay.

Because of that energy came into my Monday and I felt hopeful, which was, I guess, the best way to say it. I felt hopeful.

In this moment, hope brings me peace for the first time since the slaughtering of unarmed black men, women and children caught the national attention. I’m hopeful that our pain is being heard. I’m at a peace, knowing that a new generation is going to forge a path forward.

Hi guys, it’s Wynter. I just want to say that I like peaceful, quiet, and I like peaceful, quiet in the world. And I really like the world to be peaceful and quiet, and I like going out.

Peace!

Love you.

Beyond Our Cells is an original series produced and hosted by me Taylor Camille, a variety of the series artwork shared here and on our Instagram @beyondourcells are created by Carmen Johns and Sierra Hood. My hope is that these listening’s have left you with a warm heart and an even cooler mind. I hope you are left feeling able to seek peace in the spaces and places you may find yourself in.

If you’re interested in being on the pod or have any compelling leads, please shoot us an email at info@beyondourcells.com and subscribe and share if you haven’t already.

Check out our feature on Well & Good here