Finding a Quiet Place Inside Yourself- Melanie Milburne

I don’t think there has been a time in history where women have been under more pressure: Work, family, career, health and fitness, keeping up with friends and doing our bit for the community. We are expected (by others and by ourselves) to achieve so much on one day. I seem to fly from one commitment to another, wondering if everyone else is feeling as stressed as me or whether I’m just a stress bunny who attracts it. I am a type A personality which means I am driven and energetic, nothing is too hard a challenge and I thrive on them, the harder and more unattainable the better. But sometimes I just wish I could be one of those serene personalities that soothe rather than rev up. I have many friends who are like that and they are like a balm to my soul. I just love the sense of quiet I get around them. The funny thing is they love my energy and get a boost from being around my crazy million-miles-a-minute pace!

The important thing for me just lately is to look for a quiet place inside myself to ease that bubbling stress. I had a few days away recently at our beach house as we are renovating at home and that is a whole lot of other stress! Workmen, cement trucks, machines, painters… honestly, I was going nuts! I couldn’t string a thought together let alone words.

But now that I am home again and back on the treadmill I make myself travel back to the coast just for a few minutes and think of that glorious sunset or the Aurora Australis I saw one night or Southern Lights as it also called. It was majestic and so was the brilliant night sky with stars dotted like diamonds on a black velvet blanket.

Or I think of kayaking down The Swan River where I heard warblers and finches and parrots that were so beautiful it was like music. Then there was the sound of the waves, and then on calmer days just the gentle hiss and suck of the water as they lapped at the shore, and that magical infinitesimal moment between those little waves when there is absolute silence. Have you ever heard that? It is truly the most amazing thing. It’s like the world has taken a breath and held it for that tiny moment before releasing it again.

What do you do to calm yourself? I have a new Medical out soon called The Man With the Locked Away Heart. Marc Di Angelo is a city cop with a lot of stress in his life and he goes out to the bush in an attempt to re-evaluate his life. Local GP Gemma Kendall certainly shakes him up a bit which is just what he needs.

I will send a signed copy to someone who tells me how they relax.

Happy reading!

Melanie Milburne