I went outside

In search of solitude and peace of mind.

Away from the suffocating interior

To the quiet of a sunlit winter breeze.

But quiet is as quiet does.

Relentless signal beeps in the background

And someone’s chainsaw moans relentlessly.

Even the birds, a chaotic melee of sound that

Assaults me from all sides.

The breeze rising, shushing past

And cars drone up the road intermittently.

Cacophony reigns.

There is no room in my head anymore.

My gut churns again, over and over.

Is this life? What is my purpose? Where is the path?

Endless life surrounds me in its chaos,

My senses too overwhelmed to focus.

Without a path I am lost.

Without direction I am rudderless.

A desperate need to regain certainty,

In this state I am good for nothing and no one.

Powerless and motionless,

I crave white light and true silence.

And yet, the warm sun in my eyes,

The clean breath of not quite spring.

The waves of wind that wandering waft

The strands of my hair, caressing my face.

At least I can breathe in.

The chainsaw dies away and the cars

Are just stronger gusts of air now.

No clarity yet

But peace, maybe.

Breathe in again

And wait.

© Donna Sherriff 2021

Published by the lean minimalist

Donna Sherriff is a New Zealand based improvement and operations management specialist. Seeing a need for simple, no fuss, improvement advice she started The Lean Minimalist blog in 2017. Donna writes articles offering advice and tips for rapid and sustainable business improvement based on over 15 years in Senior Management roles. Passionate about sharing the lessons of over 20 years on the high performance track Donna offers coaching services to professionals. She also writes about her own personal improvement journey, minimalism, and her life long struggle against the tyranny of cookies and sugar which she overcame in 2020. These days, Donna is pursuing a journey to earn her black belt in Taekwondo after a long hiatus of 16 years away from training. On the side she is an amateur but passionate musician and poet. View all posts by the lean minimalist