Moments or serenity in your life?

AOTEAROA

AOTEAROA

Active member
Yo so today I woke up and it was raining so I was like "Work? Fuck that" So instead I had breakfast, chilled, then went and checked the surf. It was small but super glassy and fun. And as I was sitting there in the glass water with the rain falling I was waiting for the next set and looked up and about 200m in front of me a whales tail comes up out of the water, really playfully. I thought to myself in that moment this is one of the most serene moments of my life. Calm, relaxing rain, fun surf and whales playing out the back. Good times. Also saw a pod of dolphins when I was walking up the beach.

Be a skier aswell I have had many serene moments in the mountains or even in ski villages at night where it starts to snow and everything becomes so still and silent and an overwhelming feeling of peace and relaxation mixed with excitement comes over you...nothing beats it.

Anyone care to share some special times youve had, either shared (with humans or other animals) or alone....PEACE.
 
Every year I camp out on the backside of my favorite mountain at least once. It's the best feeling when I get the campsite all dug out, the tent set up, and I sit down and listen to the trees cracking and settling. I've got a big, scary birthday coming up soon, and that's what I'll be doing. It really centers me.
 
Being up in the mountains and spending time there are for sure some of my moments of serenity. Just being up their in the crisp, fresh mountain air with all its wilderness and peacefulness really is an amazing thing.
 
Reading on a big rock next to a lake in the mountains (I'd hiked in that morning). The sun was starting to go down so it was lighting up the slope across with a pink tinge. Suddenly I hear a loon call, I look up and there are 2 loons swimming together a few metres away from me. It was pretty much perfect.
Something about being next to water does it for me. Even as a super high-strung kid, I could spend 2 hours sitting on a float in the ocean staring into the water.
 
traveling through europe and I was in Switzerland at Mt Lucerne. We had taken a tram up there in the morning and it was about a 45 min to an hour long walk to get to the peak. Everyone else that had gone up at the same time didn't think it was worth it because the whole mountain was completely socked in. I thought why not i'm only going to be here once. It was that moment at the peak that the clouds and fog had started to thin and I was pushed through ontop of the mountain with nothing but clear skys above me and fog from my waist down passing over the mountain. The fog was so thick that I couldn't even see my feet and I felt like i was the only one in the entire world at that moment as the fog and clouds drifted over the valleys surrounding me completely silent.
I will never forget that moment as long as i live.
 
I was jogging on the AT one time around dusk, making a really good pace on a slight downhill. All of a sudden I kicked up a nice sized buck and he proceeded to trot alongside me about 20 feet into the woods. He turned away a bit and just then the trail bent in his direction, next thing I know there he is again right next to me trotting along again. I ran alongside him for what felt like a full minute or so, just me and the mighty stag of the pennsylvania wood. Running in silence with the leaves under our feet and the wind in our hair. Quite beautiful.

Other than that, every time I surf a wave in a kayak on a river. to have all that action and water swirling past you with such force, and you just float there facing upstream and not moving. that's a pretty cool feeling too.
 
These are sick stories people, Im loving them. Especially the one about the loons and the deer! SOOOO cool, I love having interactions with animals like that. Where you sense a connection between two beings, yourself and the other animal, and you both know it. Awesome.
 
Most of my serene moments come from hunting, you see many extremely pretty sunsets and sunrises, and twilight is pretty much when everything comes to life. Plus there's no better way to closely watch any animals like deer or turkey in their own homes.

Only serene event i have from skiing is sitting in the rentable condos across from keystone in a hottub, late evening, and it was snowing.

I've also had a shitton in new mexico when i went to Philmont. Pretty much every night there was crazy pretty.
 
I had a lot of moments last semester of serenity even just walking to and from uni. right down the street there used to be a spot that overlooked wellington that I used to stop and just look out over everything and just take it all in. even though it was a more city atmosphere, I still felt very calm and at ease watching over it all. that and sitting in the botanical gardens at night watching the city lights. I usually don't like cities too much, but wellington felt like home, which is why I guess I had all these serene moments while there.
 
sitting in a tree at 5:30 in the morning, watching the sun come up and all the critters start moving and the woods come to life
 
i was diving ship wreck off of Key Largo, FL. I'm 100+ feet below the surface checking out the deck of the USS Duane. Visibility was the best I've ever seen - easily 100+ feet of visibility. Everything is dead silent. All I can hear are the bubbles from my regulator as I slowly breathe. I'm surrounded by sea life - a school of tuna, nurse sharks, a MASSIVE sea turtle, beautiful coral growing on the wreck, a few Goliath grouper, etc. It was so peaceful and beautiful...I didn't ever want to leave. Unfortunately, air doesn't last very long at that depth, but it was the most memorable 25 minutes of my life.
 
Having just snorkeled the keys this past may I can say without a doubt that must have been cool as shit. I've never done scuba but I can imagine it's about a thousand times cooler than snorkel and I had a blast doing that. Great story.
 
I have quite a few.
Hiking this little ridge with my friend at Crystal in thigh deep pow, and getting to the top and being able to see for miles was incredible.
Another time I walked straight up this ridge behind my house (2500 foot elevation gain with no trail to follow) and when I got to the top I sat in a fire watch tower and watched the sun rise.
And every single time I stand on the stage after a performance (I play the trumpet).
 
no shit? i was there in may, too. my old man and I took a little over a week and went and dove the keys every day...got about four dives a day in. where did you go snorkeling at?
 
hiking to the peak of a mountain in the summer time, being able to see 360degrees of scenery around; a thin blanket of mist covers the treeline as time seems to stand still
 
got my fair share, best moment of my life was last year in switserland....
Went hiking with 3 friends and we would spend the night in a cabin on 3400m altitude on the glacier....
it turned out it was super hectic in the hut, 35sleeping spots and almost 40 ppl, super warm and humid inside and climbing folks don't smell very fresh....so around midnight i took my sleeping bag and went outside, i slept on a lawn chair, it was a crystal clear night, i've honestly never seen so many stars....
1 night and i saw 38 !! falling stars !
i didn't sleep that night, not because of the cold or the bad chair, but just because it was so beautiful i couldn't close my eyes .....
this is a picture of the same hut the year before....i don't have any pictures of the stars because i only had a crappy camera with me ....
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So Sparknotes:
Switserland, 3400m slept in a hut, was too warm/too much people/too smellyDecided to sleep alone outsidenever seen so many stars,didn't sleep because it was so beautiful i couldn't close my eyes ...
 
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sorry for the low res, its from my facebook, but it was this summer on a hiking trip in Yosemite national park, very jaw dropping and serene for me.
 
last time it was raining, it was very sunny except for one cloud like above me. Mad pouring with extreme sun and eventually, there came up not one, but TWO RAINBOWS. iwasshittingbricks
 
We were staying in a small village on the pacific coast of southern Costa Rica, Matapalo to be exact.

As I was sleeping in the hammock after fooling around in the low tide. I had onlt been sleeping for about 45 minutes. One of my friends had placed a banana at the end of a branch not to far from me. As I woke up I look over to my left and am face to face with a lil monkey grabbing the nanner. To my surprise the owner of the house had hug a bushel of bananas and attracted a group of 20 or so monkeys.

Watching and experiences those wild monkeys was more surreal than serene, but nevertheless one of the best moments of my life
 
drove all the way down to bahia honda on the big pine key. Camped in the state park for a week, visited key west a few times to watch the flyers playoffs at the bars. Kayaked in the gulf and had wicked fights with the bugs most of the week. Can't complain about 80 degree water temps in may though that's for sure.
 
Truth, no ones sees the silent depths of the forest like the hunter. Sit in a tree from an hour before sunset til noon, and you'll see more animals than most in a lifetime.
 
the other day i was hearing the crunch of something walking towards me, my heart was going crazy and it turned out it was just a chipmunk. little fucker got me going and then proceeded to dance around on the branch right next to me...anyways, it was most tranquil
 
Squirrels get every hunters heart pumping, you never know though, that's the beauty of it. Could be a squirrel, could be a ten pointer beast of the woodlands. Every time it's something new though. I turned just my head once and a buck stopped dead and stared me down at 70 yards or so, it sure keeps ya on your toes.

"In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen. The excellent people who protest against all hunting and consider sportsmen as enemies of wildlife are ignorant of the fact that in reality the genuine sportsman is, by all odds, the most important factor in keeping the larger and more valuable wild creatures from total extermination." -
 
It was the day after closing day and it was my last night in banff. It was raining and town and pretty cold and me and my buddy from home just hopped and some bikes and started riding.

And we just kept pedaling up hill. It was dark and i had no idea where i was. But we ended up near this arts school.

And we were riding around on the campus paths that were super smooth and then we ended up on this road.

Freshly paved, raining, no sounds except the tires spinning, no lights so it was dark as fuck (scared a cougar was going to jump). Keep in mind we are sort of on the side of a mountain.

So we come around this corner and all of a sudden, boom, banff springs hotel. and we were across the river and high up so it was same level/a bit below us

BanffHotel.jpg


it was real foggy/raining and all you could see was this big castle lit up through the fog. could barely see it.

and i just stopped by the side of the road looking at this beautiful land scape with the river raging below.

definitely a cleansing moment.

i wish i could take my friends to that exact moment in time.

hopefully i can replicate it again this year.
 
last season, during one of the school weaks there was a giant fog front that lasted about 5 days. me and a buddy went too the hill and it was COMPLETELY empty besides us. we stayed until 3AM and it was the most peaceful thing ever. so quiet and fun, we could not see past 30 feet infront of us the entire time. we did stupid little doubles runs the whole time, and had 5 zen mixes of meditation music and some Amon Tobin playing. as i was riding up the lift it hit me that this is the last season i have in this state and instead of getting mad, i kinda felt happy. like "i dont have much longer, so dont stress and have fun". i swear i will remember that night for a long ass time
 
Solid thread cause these days life is SO hectic, fast paced, and full of bullshit, assholes, and turmoil. You can block it out easy but by far the best escape is when everything just comes to a standstill...
 
Flying an old cessna 152 at night in the winter. The moon was huge and it was reflecting off of the snow, everything was lit up, dead silence on the radio, and nothing to do but bomb around small runways in the area. It's probably the most alone I've ever felt in my life. Incredibly peaceful and relaxing. If I ever feel stressed I like to put myself back there and get lost in it.
 
that place is one of my favorite in the world. Stayed there a few years ago with a buddy and his family for a week while we skied/biked. Since staying there, every time I enter a hotel I always feel disappointed because I know it'll never live up to the banff springs. (plus banff is a great place in general. really enjoyed my time there)

some of my more happy moments actually came from work. Over the summer I was posted on one of the roofs at Fenway, and apart from checking tickets and sorting out the riff raff, for much of the game I could stand there with a perfect view of almost all of Boston. Kind of hit me one night while I was standing there eating some peanuts (one of the perks of working at a ballpark-excessive eating of peanuts.) and enjoying the view. No one was fighting, drunk, or out of line so I had nothing to do but sit there listening to activity on the radio.

...of course later on that night some guy fell down some stairs feet away from where I was sitting and nearly died....but at that moment...no problems.
 
Waking up to a nice snowfall that is still going is so nice, especially when the plows have slowed down since schools have closed. Snow is always serene.

My family always used to take a vacation to Maine in August for a week or two, so this was a good 6 years ago probably. We stayed in Five Islands and my dad brought his boat up so we would go out every day and cruise through the island and check out Booth Bay. One day we decided to come around the point instead of taking the guts back. We were coming around the point out of Booth Bay and this pod of harbor dolphins swam up and were swimming next to the boat. One of the coolest things I have ever seen, they actually come within touching distance to the boat and there were probably 5 of them. the coast of Maine is just an awesome place anyway.
 
wilderness canoeing in the quetico, we found a big waterfall with a pool at the bottom and i sat in the pool with my head under the water and the waterfall crashing right onto my upper back, it was almost strong enough to knock me down but felt so good, under the water all you could hear was the pounding of the water and it was one of the most relaxing moments of my life.
 
my college is on lake sabago in maine, so every once and a wile i go down to the water front for the sunset, crazy looking, its a great place to be.
a couple years ago i was at jay in the trees it was snowing anw we were kinda out of abound, it was a couple good friends, in the middle of the woods laughing, then every one shut up , just looking around another great place to be
 
I've worked at a camp for the past 2 summers. Part of the camp is a 5 day hike in the B.C interior. On the third night me and the other two leaders decided to sleep outside because it was a clear night and the bugs weren't too bad. we were on a ridge that was the last high point before the mountains drop back down and there's just a high plateau for a good 100km. At night you could see the twinkling lights of the little towns and farms. we talked for a while and then fell asleep under what was already one of the starriest nights I've ever seen. I woke up sometime later, probably close to 2 or 3 in the morning and it felt like the full milky way was right above me. literally millions of stars and one big band of cloudy light that I assume was one of the arms of the galaxy. I just lay there, staring up, feeling insignificant and in awe of the vastness of the universe.
 
SERENITY NOW!
but seriously. I try to have a moment of serenity every day. Smoking a spliff on the lawn of the Lincoln Memorial at sunset was my most recent memorable one, such nice colors.
 
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