Alone
I sit back in my chair, exhausted. I stare. Silence is all around me. It’s a fine, harmonious sound. It’s broad and clear. I can hear myself. I can hear myself thinking.
A cell phone wouldn’t dare interrupt.
A loud voice doesn’t exist.
I can feel my heart. I can feel my heart beating.
I remember when I used to not like to be alone.
Then I learned how.
Learning how to be alone is as easy as learning how to feed yourself
and just as messy at first.
I think of the softly lit stars. I feel the silence of their being. I feel a home in the universe. I’m hospitable, joyful, forgiving, and generous.
A friend once said, “The universe shall not be thwarted.” So I stopped trying to rearrange it, stopped trying to change it, stopped trying to put myself in the center.
Instead I sat in the dark and listened. Silence is a harmonious sound.
I can hear myself. I can hear myself thinking.
I can feel my heart. I can feel my heart beating.
I’m reflective, thoughtful, and filled with meaning.
I learn how to be alone.
It makes me better when I am with other people.
We can change the world — just like that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss