High Strung.  Oh yes I am.

As much as I would like to be some other way, I would have to say that I pretty much border on the side of intensity.

They say the origin of the word comes from the mid-1700s, referring to instruments being strung in a high tone.  But I say it is more like someone walking a tightrope.  The rope is high strung.  Tense.  Edgy.  Danger, young Will Robinson.

Serenity is where I would much rather be.
One of the most beautiful, and profound prayers ever written, is by  Rienhold Niebuhr.  The Serenity Prayer.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

It is so very perceptive, and far-reaching.

The other day, I was sending my sister a text message.  I was talking about something that brings me to a place of calm.
But I was texting fast…. and mistakenly said… a place of clam.

She laughed.  LOL.  I could hear her through the text.

But the more I thought about it, the better it sounded.  It is a pretty good analogy.  Calm can be serenity, or the ability to not show emotions such as nervousness, or anger.  It can also mean  the absence of violent or confrontational activity.  But the ability to be calm is a treasure.  A gift.

And then I thought about the clam.  It has its very own little shell that opens and shuts when it needs to.  And when it is closed all the way, it is protected from all the surrounding dangers and turmoil.  But low and behold, inside, deep inside, after years of work, there is a beautiful gift…. a pearl.  Sometimes the shell has to open up and sometimes the shell has to close for the pearl to be formed.

So… as you see… my finding a place of clam is quite apropos.

I think it is my new motto in fact.  I am clam.  I am perfectly clam.