A few days before school began, I read “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles for my sophomore year English class. The title comes from Gene, the main character, finding a unique peace in youth and friendship. As I live my life, there are small moments where I look back on and think, there is a hidden peace there. Just like Gene, I have ‘a separate peace’; my peace that exists in the crooks of my life, my peace that is distinctly mine. I find it in the smiles of my closest friends, in their laughs, in our hang-outs, where it seems like it’s only us who  exist in that moment, enclosed in a warm bubble. I find it in the casual moving of everyday life, be it staying up to finish that assignment or last minute studying for a test the next day, in moving up and down the stairs of these chaos-ridden, jam-packed school stairways (maybe there’s not much peace there), in coming home to collapse on my bed only to wake up a few minutes later for a cup of tea made by my mother, in high fiving my brother when I pass him in the hallways of our home (our only interaction most days), in texting my friends and freaking out over little things, in football games and Fridays, in quiet Saturday mornings, in familiar cousin get togethers, in the sunsets and the moon and stars and writing and simply being me.

My “separate peace” is found in the simplicity in my life and the smallness of it. Some days, my world doesn’t extend past familiar faces and this small town that I know so well. I drive on the same roads every day, see the same sights, hug the same faces that are so dear to me. There is peace in all of that, peace I can store away and claim as my own. There is peace in my youth- the youth I share with my friends, in the time I spend loving them because they are wonderful humans to love. There is peace in my name, in who I am, in the roots of my identity. There is peace in rainy days and green tea, in worn out shoes and thrifted clothes, and music I’ve listened to a thousand times. There is peace in knowing the same people for so long that I know their habits, their tiny ticks and pet peeves, what makes them laugh, and what makes them frustrated. I find my peace in the routine of my life, in the joy of being alive and loving and breathing and being known. There is peace in my small world and peace in the fact that it is small. And even though everything I’ve described so far is  a part of everyone’s lives, while I am living in these moments- these wedges of peace seem to be something only I know. I don’t want to take it for granted, because I know these are years of my life that I will one day look back on with nostalgia and fondness. So I am grateful for the privilege I have in knowing peace, of being able to gaze on fiery-red sunsets and feeling inspired.