I Need Quiet

Every now and then it gets to be too much. Deadlines, craziness, moodiness...it builds up until you hit the boiling point.

Folks, I've been at a low simmer for about two weeks now. You know it's bad when your friends and family say on a regular basis:

• You don't seem yourself.
• I'm worried about you.
• You seem a bit stressed.
• Is there anything I can do?
• I can tell something is bothering you.

Thursday afternoon I realized that I was in desperate need of some quiet. Deadlines were going to have to wait. To-do's would need to get to-done at a later date. It just didn't matter.

What did matter was that I was about to completely lose my mind if I didn't step away.

So Friday I spent the day at home. I worked a bit, did a few chores as well. But mainly I just absorbed the quiet. Though not so quiet, when you think about it. The hum of the ceiling fans, rustling of tree limbs in the wind, rumbling of the a/c kicking on, the steady whirl of the dryer.

But somehow that is exactly the kind of quiet I needed. It's the white noise of life, reminding me that I am going to be ok, if I respect my mental health as much I as I do my physical health.

View from our master bedroom.

What you do when it all gets to be a bit too much?