You have probably declared to be finding peace over a stretch of time, then it became a mirage. Particularly now, during this COVID-19 pandemic, peace is particularly scarce—a bitter pill. Take for example running a big service business. It’d still be very hard to come to terms with the socio-economic dent caused by government measures in the industry. Same thing with your personal fulfilment. A lot of people confuse their goals as a path towards peace, rather than peace as a springboard for their goals.

I was on a call with a friend over the weekend and the call took a tangent for the better debating peace. What is peace? What is peace correlated to? How do you attract peace? Basically, trying to complete the less talked about peace equation.

The tangent was triggered by an apparent epiphany of mine. “I know what I want to do!” I divulged. “I want to achieve peace from the work I do. I want the work to speak for me…” Oblivious of the fault on what brings peace, it never occured to me that that was a step into an endless cycle of perceived peace. For one, my peace was hinged at this ‘important work’. Meaning if this important work doesn’t happen then I don’t have peace.

That declaration was blinding. Instead, it ought to be the other way round: That important work/thing you want to do relies on peace; your work is a by-product of achieved or failed peace. Peace is a state of mind you can never run away from but is at an arm’s-reach. It’s ubiquitous. However, the path to it requires solid convictions. Or truths. Let’s take for example, an aged octogenarian who will commit to acts of kindness because they are at peace with the fact that their contribution, however little, is valuable to their immediate community. Or a student who will work full-time on side projects than school work because they are at peace with the fact that their professional work carries more meaning than school work.

A useful template to identify your implicit bias on peace: For me to realize peace, I want to do/have/achieve x. Then work your way backwards to a truth you believe in.

Peace is a state of mind you can never run away from but is at an arm’s-reach. It’s ubiquitous.

However, it’s a bitter-sweet pill. The good thing is that you will have your blueprint to figure out peace. The tough sport is that you probably won’t constantly be at peace.

Let’s use this rudimentary math concept (equation of lines [via matplotlib on Python]) to illustrate reaching peace as a function. Assuming ‘peace lines’ are represented by line y = 0 or x = 0, we strive for a function where we are closest/nearest to these ‘peace lines’, or as coordinates. 1 Ultimately, the function serves as a truth meter to peace.

Scenario A

Scenario A: This scenario shows an almost blurred understanding of peace.This is probably an accurate description of most of us. While the efforts y = 1/x are closest to peace x = 0; y = 0, peace is often a mirage. It could be as a result of honest ignorance or obfuscating desires. E.g Having gadget x will make me happier, while in reality it only brings you closer to peace, but not to it.

Scenario B

Scenario B: This scenario shows a decent understanding of peace. While they might wander [max/min points], their understanding of peace skews their efforts y = n.psin(x) to peace [line intercepts]. The above-average person will probably fit this scenario either because they’re self-aware or simply vested in clarifying desires. E.g “He did me bad. I won’t get back by doing the same bad to them. I understand this is bigger than both of us. Instead, I will acknowledge them with empathy and humility.”

Both scenarios A and B are attempts to show the divide between obfuscating desires and clarifying desires in achieving peace.

I doubt we realize how big a role peace (or lack thereof) plays in our everyday decisions. Say for example you’re innovating things with mass utility, you have to come to peace that you probably won’t be understood/agreeable to many, your product will likely fail and you will die many times before you come alive. Your actions and decisions thereafter will most likely tell if these actions come from someone who has made peace with some of these truths.

My peace writing this piece (okay, pun) is that I probably won’t be at constant peace. Also that my actions will never bring peace; my peace leads to those actions. As a state of mind, this will mean stubbornly ascribing to different truths.

What brings you peace? And what does that peace lead to?

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Appreciation to my editor2 for crossing t’s and dotting i’s.

Footnotes

1 Muted axis values and scale ticks with:

ax.set_yticks([])
ax.set_xticks([])

2 Editor prefered to stay anonymous.