Peace Be With You Always...

Hello dear Substack Family,

How are you keeping?

Now that is quite the question in 2025….Because how could one be really keeping the way this world has gone? I think someone has turned us upside down and now all the loose ends and untangled bits have fallen out of the brains of our operation…Holy moly …All I can say is that even though I can see that the world and Ireland has let go of the steering wheel - I refuse to go off script with them! I refuse whole heartedly to let go of who I am in a world that no longer knows who it is.

So instead I’ve taken on the attitude that I am not going to be wound up or wound in by the madness and just like in that time of Covid, I will remain separate and remain calm to the chaos that is being purposefully and intentionally created to make us fearfully driven towards anger and instead I am choosing peace.

Peace within me. Peace around me. Peace from my heart. Peace within my mind. Peace in my words. Peace in my thoughts. Peace in my ways. And I will not allow the anger and distaste for modern day humanity take me over…. Instead I will go to the one place nobody is talking about these days, I will turn inwards. I will look inside and test the waters of my own valley of tranquility. I will lean on the wise words of philosopher and one my favourite writers Marcus Aurelius in this moment, “Nowhere can man (or woman) find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.”

I wish to not be part of the anger and fury that the world is now projecting. Like in the time of covid, an infection took hold of us all and it wreaked havoc- the medical disease was one part but the mental trauma and chaos that was created between people fighting with and against each other was the more damming aspect, in my opinion.

And I don’t know about you, but I feel in this moment, the same thing is happening again… While there are a million and one headlines roaring for our attention (noise), and yes terrible things are happening….sadly in this world we live, that has always been the case - a hundred years before we got here and it will be here a hundred years after us only now every inch and fibre of darkness is being micromanaged, projected, multiplied and infected into every aspect of our modern lives and honestly I don’t think there could be a greater sickness to ravage this earth than that. It feels like a pandemic of mental anger, raging darkness and projected fury is now being pumped into our veins from every direction unless we choose not to take it in. To refuse to swallow the pill of anger. To stand tall, and calm and in many ways we are being asked in a million ways everyday, do we know the direction to go when chaos arrives or have we the willpower to put out the fires of darkness with the only thing that truly works - LOVE< PEACE<CALM<LIGHT<HOPE< AND COMPASSION FOR BOTH SIDES. Peace can only live where both side gives in. Darkness only lives because of the light and light only lives because of the darkness.

Can we actually live the life we talk so much about? Or have we been professing oblivious judgement on others through the keyboard while not living the same way we speak to those closest to us? Can we compassionately treat each other with kindness even if we do not agree? Do we have to say so much? Can we place a middle path between those who want to fight and those who don’t?

Do we belong to the space where peace could live or do we just want to fight and fight and fight. Have we become a culture of calling it out and out and out yet not living the truth deeply enough and intimidately enough in our own steps and in own daily actions. What i’ve learned is that calliing it out is easy, but living it is a completely different thing and I guess thats what intrigues me and worries me in equal measures. The acting out on our phones and in our whatsapp groups and in having our say so freely has created a society who do an awful lot of talking, and now possess the power to throw out a whole lot of words…. but when it comes to seeing inside the person, inside their soul, inside their daily actions, the test of compassion and kindness is what kind of people are, we when we don’t agree, when we step inside our own homes, into our own families, onto our own battle grounds and what kind of humanity we show when we are pushed up against the wall and up against everything we possess so freely in this modern world. Do I have the right to judge you in your home? Do you have the right to judge me? Is this level of judgement and words good for our society or have we reached the overflow of freedom while so many do no possess freedom at all?

Personally I believe the best thing for me to do in this moment is to keep the lantern of light lit while firmly standing in position of peace, harmony, quietness, reflection, witness and for a want of calm not chaos in what seems like the most divisive chapter of my time on earth.

In this moment, I have chosen it is my responsibility not to shout louder but to listen better. To stay calm and measured.

To do what I can but not to judge others. No matter what side they stand.

I am not better than anyone else.

I am not perfect.

I make mistakes and have got things wrong and will continue my life of learning making mistakes and trying to better myself.

To hurt less and to heal more.

But I can only do what I can do in my own space and that will always be enough to serve the greater good. Who I am to my own people is more important than who I want others to be. Wishing for others to do things different to how I want, is a false idealism to hold at any point of our lives. We have no control on others only on ourselves. Yes we can hope for better but at the end of the day, the only real responsibility we hold, is to live our lives in light and love and in a way that others feel safe and feel they can move closer to us not further away. This will always be enough to create peace. In today’s world, we sadly seem to be driven by the infection of dispute, disillusionment and disgruntlement.

Change will only come when a choice is made from all to look at the small picture in a peaceful manner which in turn will lead to the bigger picture being peaceful too. Small moves lead to big ones. But we cannot jump the steps to that peace, even if all the leaders of the world continuously do so…

Collectively we need to be at peace within ourselves to encourage peace in others even if those we rely on show nothing but disregard and distemperment to all. For me it is in this moment,that I must make sure I am trying to be a human of peace at all times before I go pointing the finger towards anyone else.

What the world needs right now is light not dark. It needs quiet consideration and a measured response but we can only give that from a space in which we hold that same quietness and consideration. We must and should not judge those who do different to us. Division and people fighting with each other does sadly happen thousands of miles away, but it is also happening in our homes, in our villages, in our towns, it is happening in us.

We do not know what it is like to live in another persons shoes no more than they do in ours. A light of love, calmness, kindness and quietness is the best antidote for what is presently ripping our world apart yet for this moment, it seems to be the furthest thing from anyones mind.

For me, in this moment, I am going to lean in, and look up. I am not looking out to judge instead I am looking in to keep the love alive within me. The bright spark of hope can only exist if we hold onto it ourselves. Friendship, softness and connection are vital in this historic war of humanity.

It is now, I need to go inwards and be still. I am going to remain calm. I am going to keep an eye on my loved ones and friends and stay close to them. I am going to take care of who I can take care of. I am going to mind my mind and therefore be able to take care of those I have an impact on. I am going to lean in and learn from what I am witnessing on the outside. I am choosing to sit with people who are the balm to my soul and who gently contribute to my spirit with soft kindness and compassion. I am not a fan of the loud, the chaotic or the angry -I never have been so I will not be drawn in by this moment, to become angry, loud or chaotic.

No instead I will do as I have always done. I will watch. I will listen. I will think. I will only speak when I have something valuable to say. I will follow the leadership of those gone before me - my ancestors and people who I love - who taught me that peace can only come in the quiet. Peace can only exist where the middle ground is created and anger does not encourage peace, instead it suffocates it.

I will not enter into the furious volcano of words that now spill onto our phones and screens whether big thoughts or endless commentary; neither are useful if they are not compassionate, soft and peaceful. We do not know who our words are reaching, who our words are damaging if we are indeed projecting the darker moods of our humanity and the biggest risk with our words is the effect those words might have if they land on someone phone who might be feeling fragile. We might push them over the edge. We might trigger further darkness inside them and we might lose them not knowing it was us who took that last piece of hope from their hands.

We speak endlessly about our rights and our opinions nowadays, forgetting that what we believe is not ours at all. Our words belong to others. The effect of anything is always paid for by someone else. So if you are to speak, speak with kindness, speak with understanding, speak with fairness and most importantly only speak if your words will offer a doorway to the quiet, a doorway to gentleness, a doorway to peace.

I find that all the noise that is being created nowadays does not help our world, it instead adds to the flames that now seem to be burning from within. Egocentric, loud, trending noises have somehow got even louder than we could have ever imagined and like a raging infection has taken over so many people. It is now our turn, our duty to the next generation and also to the elders of our communities, to look at what is happening, to carefully consider the situation from every angle and to respond in the only way I can imagine peace can really be possible - to want peace, you must be peaceful yourself.

I hope my words help you to feel safe and to feel seen. To know I stand beside you. To know you are not alone. And to give you hope that everything will be ok. We have been through many moments of hell on this earth and in our lives, and in the end everything works out when we remain calm and we believe in the thing that we want most. We want peace so we will pray for it. We will look for it. We will serve it. And we will become it.

Much love,

Your friend, Lou x

I’ve included a special song in my audio recording if you might feel like bringing me on your walk or drive and listening to my words that way x

Please feel free to leave a comment down below to let me know you visited my writing home and maybe you might have found my words comforting. Thank you for being here x

• All photos used in my Substack letters are my own photos - I hope they help you to keep looking up x