I Went Out Looking for Peace — And Abuja Gave Me a Little

I Didn’t Want to Go Out... But I Did

It wasn’t perfect. The grass was dry in places. The benches were dusty. But the stillness? The stillness felt like medicine.

Amina R., Abuja resident

I didn’t want to go out. The light outside felt too bright. My room was heavy with thoughts I couldn’t name. I had been feeling stuck, emotionally and physically, for weeks. The kind of stuck that makes you question everything, even the point of getting up.

But something in me, maybe the quiet voice we don’t always listen to, said; “Move.”
Not in a big way. Not in the fix-your-life way. Just… step outside.

I wore old jeans. Took my journal, the one with coffee stains and pages I never show anyone. No headphones. No makeup. No plan.

Just me. And whatever the city had to offer.

I Ended Up at Millennium Park

It wasn’t planned. I kept walking until I found myself standing at the gates of Millennium Park. I hadn’t been there in years. Not since childhood, maybe. I don’t even know what pulled me in. Maybe it was the sound of children laughing. Maybe it was the stillness I could already feel from the road.

The place wasn’t perfect. The grass was dry in patches. Some benches were cracked and dusty. The paint on a few fences had started to peel.

But none of that mattered. Because the stillness, the stillness was exactly what I needed.

🌳 Just Sitting There Was Healing

I found a bench beneath a tree and just sat. No scrolling. No pretending to be busy. I let my journal rest beside me, unopened.

A child ran in circles near a tree, her laughter sharp and honest like wind chimes in a quiet room. A teenage boy played Asa’s Bibanke on a small speaker that kept cutting in and out. A man beside me, in a faded kaftan and worn slippers, prayed quietly with his eyes closed, unmoved by the noise around him.

I didn’t feel out of place. For the first time in weeks, I didn’t feel like I had to be anywhere else, or be anyone else.

The city, for once, wasn’t rushing.
And in that moment, I remembered something important.
Life doesn’t always need a breakthrough.
Sometimes, it just needs a pause.

🧘🏾‍♀️ You Deserve Spaces That Don’t Demand Anything From You

Not your money.
Not your productivity.
Not your perfection.
Not your performance.

Just a space to exist. To breathe. To be a person. To not have to smile if you don’t feel like it. To not post about it. To not make it a moment for anyone else but you.

Millennium Park gave me that.

I didn’t have to buy anything. I didn’t have to explain anything. I just had to show up.

And honestly? That one hour in the park fixed more than three months of anxiety, stress, and emotional fatigue. Not because it changed my life. But because it reminded me that I still have one.

📖 Final Thoughts... Please, Go Sit Somewhere Quiet

This is not a productivity tip. It’s not a guide to healing or some five-step system for mental health.

This is a quiet reminder that you, as you are, deserve peace. Even if it is just one hour in a city park with dry grass and dusty benches. Even if it’s alone.

If you ever feel like the walls are closing in, like you can’t take another email or smile or reminder that you’re falling behind, go sit somewhere still. Somewhere real.

Take your journal. Or don’t.

Listen to birds. Or just sit in silence.

Millennium Park did not change my life.
But it helped me remember it.

And that, sometimes, is enough.