Written by Anhayla Stanley

I went to the store last night. People were racing down the aisles knocking over baskets, babies crying, all the toilet paper was gone...it was a mess. 

 I went on social media after I left the store. People were panicking, scared, cussing people out, right wing, left wing, everybody seemed stressed out...it was a mess. 

 I went home...I was tired, feeling overwhelmed, I missed my partner that was states away....I was a mess.

 I turned off my phone, cut off the lights, took a deep breathe and laid there in silence. I listened to the silence, relaxed my shoulders and stopped trying to control things that I couldn’t. And in that moment I said....awwww there goes my peace.

 A peace so relaxing that it made me forget about everything that was going wrong with the world — the uncertainty. I had got sucked into a vortex of worry and anxiety because after all, everything that is happening with the coronavirus is new.

I’ve never seen an entire city shut down and streets emptied like I have witnessed in Seattle. I’ve never seen mass hysteria in the stores caused by a pandemic. I've never seen fear so engraved in peoples hearts like I have in the past few days and it has been…scary.

This all is new for me as I'm sure its new for so many other people around the world.  This is why its even more important to stay grounded and deeply rooted in whatever it is that gives YOU peace. This isn't a time to panic…it’s an opportunity to be still.

When I was younger, whenever a storm came, my Grandma would cut off all of the lights and the TV and make us sit and wait for the storm to pass. When I asked her why we had to be quiet, she said, “Because God wants us to listen.” This part of my life reminds me of those storms when I was younger. My grandma has passed away since then but in all this madness I can hear her voice whispering, “Shhhh…a storm’s coming.” Perhaps God is trying to tell us something. Maybe God needs us to unplug and connect to something greater. Maybe there’s something that we need to hear in this time of confusion. 

I’m going to take this time to be quiet, to be still and to listen to what my heart needs. I'm going to create space for me to show up different in the world while so many around me are spewing fear and negativity. 

 I'm going to constantly search for the good and find the light in everything I see and read — This is where my peace is. 

I can't control anything that's happening. I can't make the virus go away. I can't make the political parties come together. None of this I can control…but I can protect my peace. I can keep my peace close to me, accessible and in abundance daily. I can choose to spread love in a time where we need it more than anything.

This I can strive to do daily. Can you?