When Calm Feels Suspicious

A Love Letter to Stillness

There are these small, quiet moments in a day when nothing is actually wrong. And yet, the mind often scrambles to fill the space — opening apps, checking messages, gaming, solving problems that don’t exist, hunting for something to fix or figure out. We reach for distractions almost automatically, as if stillness itself is a problem that needs managing.

But what if nothing is wrong?
What if there’s truly nothing to do, nothing to improve, nothing to know?

Imagine developing a relationship with “nothing.” Getting intimate with those pauses where the mind naturally settles, where life is simply happening without our interference. Many of us have an almost allergic reaction to “nothing” – to ease — as if calm, spaciousness, or quiet is somehow suspicious.

Still, what would it be like to rest in stillness when nothing is wrong?

This isn’t an invitation to deny the conditions of the world — there’s plenty happening that deserves our care and attention, and these times are undeniably challenging. But even in a hard world, our inner landscape is not constantly in crisis. Over 24 hours, there are countless micro-moments when life is not demanding anything from us.

I invite you to savor those moments.
Take a breath.
Relax your grip.
Soften into stillness, the simple presence of nothing being wrong.

If you let yourself enjoy that, even for a breath or two, it may become a resource — a place of preference — one you can return to even when things do go wrong.