You Don’t Need Provence to Find Peace

 

Calm Has Many Addresses

A friend once told me that moving to the French countryside lowered her cortisol and restored her calm. I understood immediately. The idea of waking up to lavender fields, unhurried mornings, and long walks down quiet lanes sounds like medicine for the soul.

But it made me wonder: do we really have to move to Provence to find peace?

For caregivers, calm can’t always be found in distant places. It’s often tucked into the edges of our day — in the few quiet minutes before the house wakes, a sunset walk around the block, or one uninterrupted cup of tea. Sometimes it’s the soft hum of the dryer or the stillness that follows dinner, when the dishes are done and the world briefly exhales.

Maybe it’s Provence for some, the park down the street for others. Calm has many addresses.

What matters isn’t where we go, but how willing we are to pause long enough to notice the body’s quiet relief when it feels safe again. That moment — the drop in the shoulders, the deeper breath — is the destination.

You don’t have to book a flight to get there. You just have to give yourself permission to arrive.

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Reflection Prompt:
Where do you feel most at ease, even if it’s only for a few minutes a day?

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