Patty Mayeux Blog

I heard recently that we are meant to be unsettled. That seems counterintuitive to the conventional aim of peaceful balance or equilibrium. Only a few times have I felt all types of serenity; mental and emotional and physical, at once. I’m not meant to be still or quiet, at least not for long. I am built to strive, to improve, to learn, to embrace the unsettled feeling of having a place to go and a goal to reach. There are times when the wheel keeps turning, no matter my steps ahead. Sometimes I think every forward step is matched with two in the wrong direction. But looking back, I see the forward movement. It can be scary to look back when you are so far from where you began. Being unsettled means agitation but also excitement. We’d not be running had we never walked, a skill that took many falls and stumbles and a very basic, most physical sense of being unsettled. There is joy in the finding the firm footing for a new skill set, at least until the natural order of unsettledness rakes a finger through the still waters, urging us on to wobble and stumble once again. But it’s okay. We are meant to be unsettled.