Friendly Friday Challenge – Searching for Serenity

How’s your 2022 shaping up? I haven’t seen its best face, so far. Not by a long shot.

Scarborough, Australia at Sunrise

Even so, there’s always a sense of serenity to be found, in a Scarborough beach sunrise. Australia is blessed with a multitude of beaches. They’re a perfect place for contemplation – the rhythmic waves drowning out the city sounds: a soothing poultice for troubling thoughts that tumble chaotically in the vortex of life.

Coolangatta Beach, Australia

Whether you’re seeking respite from boisterous children, noisy neighbours, barking dogs, a family crisis, unemployment, the ‘rona,’ or other sounds of city/life that might grate on one’ nerves, it’s the desire for peace and tranquillity that propels many of us to search for peace, physically and/or emotionally, somewhere we can feel calm and untroubled – a state called serenity.

Serenity – a welcome internal state brought about, in part, by external forces.

The Nakasendo Way – a place to find serenity and peace.

If a sandy beach is not your thing, taking a walk in nature is an excellent way to eliminate stress. Forest trails invite you to explore, to exercise, to breathe deeply and it is possible to find a sense of serenity to those who seek it.

A stairway near Tsumago, Japan

The Nakasendo Way is an ancient walking trail connecting post-towns between Tokyo and Kyoto. This section, located in the mountains in Hakone, Japan, is a place where even the most anxious person might find serenity.

Zen Gardens

Zen Gardens are synonymous with serenity. They are minimalist-designed gardens adorned with certain elements and a lot of open space, intended to help the viewer erase the stresses of everyday life by providing him with emptiness and openness.

A serene Zen garden in Toowoomba with raked gravel

DIY Zen Gardens

If you don’t have a zen garden nearby, you could make your own version with stones, versions, dollar store miniature tools and a few rocks and cactus – this was a school project which certainly attracted a lot of attention from the school students.

Friendly Friday Challenge Prompt – Searching for Serenity

For the Friendly Friday Challenge, show me in photographs, or using words, write about somewhere that imparts a feeling of serenity – a favourite walking trail; a comfortable chair; a place where you craft or work; or home with loved ones.

A poem, a story, a report, a photograph, all are welcome contributions to Friendly Friday.

How to Join Friendly Friday Blog Challenge

• Make a post relating to the prompt, “Searching for serenity,” and include the tag Friendly Friday as well as a ping back to this post.
• Furthermore, please be sure to leave a comment here along with your published URL, so I can find you and read your post. (ping backs can fail more often than you realise).
• Note that links to a homepage will not issue a ping back, so please copy and past your post’s url.
• If you wish, you can include the Friendly Friday Challenge logo in your post. Download it here.
• You are encouraged to visit other Friendly Friday entries by following their links in the comments below. It’s inspirational and you will find some cool people.
• Follow the host blogs to be informed of future Friendly Friday Challenges

[More Friendly Friday instructions]

This challenge runs for two weeks from today, after which Sandy will post a new Friendly Friday prompt at The Sandy Chronicles.

2022 Friendly Friday Prompt Release Dates

February 25 – Sandy – The Sandy Chronicles

March 11th – Sofia – Guest Host Photographias – EXCITING!!!

March 25th – Sarah – Travel with Me

Remember to follow the Friendly Friday Challenge Team Blogs above to get email notifications/updates in your reader.

We are what our name says: Friendly!

If you do decide to join our challenge: we look forward to meeting you!

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