Quiet Moments Column


	January 28, 2009 - River News Herald - QUIET MOMENTS COLUMN by Michael Pieretti IMAGE: Glimpse of Heaven HAPPY NEW YEAR??? 2009

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Some would say, “What’s happy about it? Haven’t you seen the news on TV or been reading the papers lately? Don’t you know how bad the economy is? Reality check says this is not a time to be happy – it’s a time for doom and gloom!”

Yes, I know all of that is out there. It’s not pretty, that’s for sure! Most of us are feeling the impact in more ways than one.

Yet each time I experience a beautiful Delta sunrise or peaceful and calming sunset, that little voice within me says, “It may not be pretty on the economic front, and some of the challenges are tough ones. It’s beautiful right now.”

This natural beauty transcends the news and the material world we live in. It provides inspiration for a new day from a perspective of light and possibilities. It’s a natural antidote to the darkness and negativity we’ll be fed all day long if we stay tuned in to the media doing what it does. It provides a source of rest, renewal and inner peace each night as we wind down from the events of that day – both real and imagined.

I consider this connection to the Delta’s natural beauty a life line in a world too easily swayed by the mass media and negative sentiments that can easily gain a life of their own well beyond their own relevance.

If you need cheering up, try getting up early enough to enjoy a complete Delta sunrise, face to face in the open environment, and not through the windshield of your car or windows of your home. Dress warmly if you must, but take in the entire environmental experience – site, sound, feel and smell. Do the same with the sunsets if you’re looking for peace and renewal at the end of a long day.

If you are not already doing this, my hope is you will be pleasantly surprised to find the Delta’s natural beauty a pathway for the inspiration, inner peace, renewal and answers to challenges that will make this year the best yet!

Enjoy the Delta’s natural beauty while you can and care for it wisely.

Happy New Year!

www.mikepieretti.com


	March 19, 2008 - QUIET MOMENTS COLUMN IMAGE: *Soft Delta Winter Sunset*

Remembering Life IS Good!

Monday, March 10^th. It's 4:30 PM in the afternoon and I am still trying to wake up. I had no idea adjusting to Daylight Savings time would turn out to be this challenging. Today's cube city workload hasn't helped the wake up process - a whole lot more "To Do's" on my list that there's time for in this day, that's for sure. And even though I like my job and the people I work with- that's not enough to get me past the "I'm still not awake" state I am feeling.

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And then there's this other list of To Do's running though my head that I know I am getting behind one - the one to get done when I am not at work and not taking care of direct home family time needs.Do the taxes, fertilize my mother's lawn, get my truck tuned up, file a year's worth of receipts still sitting in that red shoe box on my desk, get the print framed I promised to donate, get the fence built for the dog - something I've been promising Mollie I would get done for three weeks now, write my Quiet Moments column for the River News Herald, due later this week. etc., etc., etc..

I could go on and on, but I'm thinking by now you get the idea. I'm guessing you could share similar lists of your own if we could compare notes right now.

The point is that the day was 2/3^rds over and I was feeling like I hadn't woke up yet and would have given anything to just lay down and take a nap!. That creative energy I like to tap into during the day was no where to be found. I wasn't depressed or having anxiety, I was simply listless, lacking energy, stamina and certainly without drive!

I had struggled to get through my communication work all day, but figured I could last one more hour before going by sheer willpower if nothing else. At 5:32 I was on my way out the door at work. Leaving "on time" is seldom something I do, but today I knew there was nothing more I could accomplish by staying any later. Even getting in my truck to drive back home to the Delta seemed like like it would take more energy than I has do draw on.

Twenty minutes later:

I am getting off of I-80 and approaching the Jefferson Blvd. turnoff. I know that I will soon be a transition point between what feels to me like "in the city" and what feels to me like, "ahhhh.. I'm back in the Delta.

I find my mind drifting back into what I call my "Delta zone" and begin to remember some of the many blessings I feel about connecting to its timeless beauty - many of which I've shared with you through past Quiet Moments columns. I asked myself, "What would I say if someone just described to me how they felt in exactly the way I know I feel right now, and then asked me what I would suggest to help them feel a little more awake and energized?"

My almost automatic response was "Give yourself a mental and phsyical break...stop and enjoy tonight’s sunset." As I continued to drive along Jefferson Blvd, just leaving West Sacramento about that time, I said to myself, "So, Pieretti. why not take your own advise. you could certainly use it about now.!"

I looked out the spotted windshield of my truck as I drove along at 60 mph, at would I would describe as a soft and not very spectacular, late afternoon Delta sky. After a minute or so I said to myself, "This really isn't doing much for me."

And then I said to myself, "Hold on. If you are really going to get into this moment you can't be multi tasking, even if its just driving along and thinking you can soak up the natural beauty around you through the windshield at the same time. Stop your truck, park on the side of the levee, get out, and then just give yourself permission to be in the moment and see what comes up."

So I listened to what I had just told myself and did just that. As you can see from this month's Quiet Moments photo, it wasn't a spectacular sunset in the works. but it was certainly a soft and refreshing sky, one that seemed to embrace me as an old friend once I got out of my truck and stretched and yawned a few times.

It felt like this soft sky was automatically absorbing my mental and physical tiredness and removing it from my body. The longer let myself get absorbed I the moment, the more I could feel a familiar and very welcomed sense of energy beginning to enter my body and my mind.

I was home. I was back in the Delta I love, being reminded by a power much greater than myself that life is good... we just need to remember how it looks.

I got back into my truck refreshed and renewed, and inspired to go home and write about this experience in this month's RNH Quiet Moments Column. I thought it was one worth sharing with you - and I hope it was now that you've read it!

Enjoy the Delta's natural beauty and care for it wisely! I look forward to visiting with you again next month.

ps: I will be publishing the past two years+ of my River News Herald Quiet Moments monthly columns here in this section of my web web site as I have the time during the next couple of months. It will be fun for me to look back on them, and I hope it will provide you with interesting and reflective content about how we can find rest, relaxation and renewal through the Delta’s natural beauty - something I have come to know on a deeper level as a pathway to the soul.

Your comments and feedback are always welcome! Contact me and I will look forward to responding.

THANKS!