The Places Time Has Forgotten

Come take a walk with me, out beyond the reach of technology's tentacles. Silence and peace reign here, providing a refuge to all who seek them. But first you must go to the places time has forgotten.

Come take a walk with me. Not a walk around the neighborhood, where the same houses and cars appear in alternating patterns. Not a walk through the park that has people in too high a denomination to be considered peaceful.

Take a walk with me out where patterns fail to thrive, where nature and animals outnumber people by significant margins, and where for the first time in a long time—you remember what silence feels like.

I could spend hours out here by myself, walking without a destination in mind. You can hear the wind rustle from a mile away before you feel it. Pecans drop into the soft earth, occasionally striking a fallen branch to announce their arrival. In the distance a forlorn train sounds, the only reminder of business and commodities.

The silence is deafening and yet something that all of us need to hear. Geography mutes reception, silencing those rectangular screaming boxes we carry with us at all times. And so, we are forced to listen. Really listen.

Listen to the thoughts we have long ago placed on a mental shelf to deal with later, knowing that later will likely never come. Listen to the dreams of our much younger selves that were forgotten along the way. Listen to who we have been, who we are, and who we still want to be.

Most of all, just listen.

There is no formula, no prescription, and no map either on this walk. It lacks assumptions, goals, and timelines. It simply—is.

And we simply—are.

Overly simplistic? Yes. And therein lies the peace.

Peace is marginalized in a world that values busyness. It gathers dust while the days pass one after the other. When we seek peace, intentionally or not, we feel it wholly and completely. We walk away restored, healing fractures that we long tried to ignore. It is never too late to reverse course on a path we did not intend to take, or to transform from a person we never intended to be.

Peace.

Find your peace by stepping away from your life as it currently is, if only for a moment.

Take a walk with me. Out past the radius of wi-fi signals, beyond the hum of highways and paved roads, farther still. Go to the places time has forgotten.

You will find silence, peace—and then yourself.