Finding Peace

I just finished a pretty cool assignment

(my first of the quarter, actually) for COMM 162,

Communication and Peace. The class is quickly becoming

one of the best ones I have taken at UCSB. My assignment was

to write a 2-page explanation (in bullet form!) of my definition of peace.

Pretty awesome, right?

I don't know if you know this, but I am kind of a hippie.

I get lost in thought very easily and tonight I am pretty sure I put way

more thought and energy into this assignment than my professor wanted.

At the end, we were supposed to provide examples from real life of

something we believe communicates peace. I thought I should share one of mine.

When I was younger, before I even knew that UCSB existed,

my family and I used to take day trips to Santa Barbara. We would go for Mother's day or even

just a beautiful sunny day in the spring or summer. We would walk around State St.,

shop, eat, enjoy Santa Barbara's natural and architectural beauty, and then drive home.

There was one time that we went for Mother's day

that I remember in particular. I was probably 13 or 14 years old

(Actually I think my dad commented, "I think there's a college around here...

Maybe you can go Cella?" Me: "Yeah rightttt!" Hehe. Silly girl).

Our wanderings in Santa Barbara that day are blurry now,

but something I will never forget is the drive home.

♥ ♥ ♥

My dad drove and my mom sat in the back, with us niglets

(Dad's word, not mine!). This is a rarity in my family so us girls

jumped on the opportunity to annoy our mother in every possible way;

chatting her ear off, lying all over her, and the like.

I remember vividly a specific moment that occurred somewhere during

the two-hour duration of the drive. Our drowsiness finally set in and

everyone was silent, the radio hardly audible. The pacific ocean shone

brightly out the window as we hurtled down the 101 and I was resting

my head against my mom's cool shoulder, to the right.

Suddenly, as I weaved in and out of sleep, my eyes filled with tears.

I did not want anyone to notice so I quickly blinked them away,

but I could not blink away the feeling that was radiating inside of me.

I felt so enveloped by the intensity of this feeling that it scared me.

...I can only describe it as pure happiness. It was such a beautiful day

and I knew right then that I was living such a beautiful life.

I felt so much love for my family and so loved in return.

I felt peace.

♥ ♥ ♥

I remember wishing at that moment that I could pause the world

and stay there forever. But we never get what we wish, do we?

Life goes on and we can only wait until that

moment of peace flashes by and consumes us again.

And that is what peace means to me :)