Today, on our daily walk, Chris and I paused at the little bridge overlooking Rice Lake, a small pond next to the Bruce Pit dog park in Ottawa. The sun was warm and the area was sheltered from the cool October wind. The geese were plentiful this morning. They floated peacefully across the water. Occasionally, a flock would fly overhead, reminding me of a fly-by performed by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. As they approached the water, some geese appeared to twist their bodies in a manoeuvre called whiffling.

We stood, leaning against the railing of the bridge, for a good ten minutes, taking in the scene. "This is our moment of Zen," I said to Chris.

Later in the day, I received James Clear's weekly newsletter. In it, he included this poem by Wendell Berry:

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Berry's poem brought to mind our morning's observation of the wild things on Rice Lake.

I wonder whether Clear chose this poem given recent world events. The poem beautifully captures the challenge of facing big things out of our control and the value of focusing on the little things in our control.

In a similar vein, today, Action for Happiness encouraged people to "Look out for positive news and reasons to be cheerful today." Most users of the Action for Happiness app made positive comments in response to the suggestion: one person noted that we have many reasons to feel grateful and cheerful; another said that they had volunteered at a food bank to help those in need; and a third shared that their scan results were good, which made them ecstatic.

But one person admitted that she was having a hard time finding the good news in the news. While June acknowledged the goodness in her own life and expressed appreciation for the Action for Happiness community (which she called "one of the small islands of friendly, respectful togetherness") she said she was thinking about the suffering of her Jewish and Palestinian fellow human beings and felt hopeless.

Interestingly, June's comment got the most likes, suggesting that people take as much solace from shared sadness as from communal optimism. Her comment put into words sentiments that others were probably feeling—sadness, helplessness, heartbreak—and no doubt helped them see that they were not alone.

One can feel sad, helpless and heartbroken while also searching for inner peace. Berry's choice to "come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief" seems especially fitting at this time.