A friend and I discussed these two words recently and the ideas that spread and trail behind them, I expressed in a small way my views on these two words and it has inspired me to revisit how these ideas affect my use of time.
Contentment for me implies that where you are is good enough, that there is no further to reach and nothing that you feel motivated to change. It says to me "Hey where I am is great, why would I ever want things to change?"
I don't want to completely knock contentment but I think that it is best in small doses, think 'savoring the moment'. After having achieving a goal it is nice to reflect on and enjoy your accomplishment. It recharges the batteries and allows one to absorb the deeper teachings of that leg of your journey.
However, lets not wallow! Stagnation is no one's friend.
Is this the way one should live life striving for contentment? How would it look if we all were content? Would we ever again dare to venture forth out side of our day to day lives to create or discover something new?
Excellent question. I suggest you answer it for yourself.
Peace is a very different word for me to me it expresses a certain ability to create flow within. Where you have a strong inner foundation of reality that is flexible as well, you often have inner peace. You can accept where you are and how things work in this now but are willing to input new information and get different results.
For me peace is an essential tool that if I have it on board I can navigate my daily life with grace and joy because there is no fear. My motivations and goals spring from a source that is more pure than fear.
Peace arises and deepens as I uncover layer by layer my inner self and who I am.
JB
2 comments:
Sometimes I feel like we are parallels. Good words my friend, you speak my mind. I think many find contentment a safer place to be. But in recent conversation, I have discovered a different view of contentment. Our friend Seres speaks about cultures being content and not feeling as though they have to procure more in terms of technology, war, etc. But here again, I think contentment is not what we mean.
Thank you for your comment.
I think that what I hear in Seres' view, on not feeling the need to procure more, is encompassed by how I defined peace. I believe that the people in other cultures perhaps have inner peace but still find ways to deepen how they view life. They sink more into the moment or look for opportunities to learn new skills appropriate to where and who they are. I think of
The Continuum Concept: In Search Of Happiness Lost (Classics in Human Development) and the culture I read about there. I would find it hard to believe that there is one person who does not reach out in some way to be beyond themselves not as a need but perhaps more as an opportunity, a creative urge, that it is only natural to fulfill. I do not see a level of dissatisfaction as being necessary when one strives. Perhaps contentment is the wrong word to use for some, because they define the term more accurately than most. However, for many (I think unfortunately) contentment ultimately equals stagnation.
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