Galaad Lubin 2012

I enjoy being alone, I am enough for myself.
If I had the choice between constant company and a hermit's life, I would probably choose the latter.
People, loved or not, and the accompanying noise level I find incredibly exhausting and I feel drained extremely quickly.

However, it is the case that I first work in a heavily frequented business at the forefront of customer interaction and secondly live in a house with 6 other people - of whom only my son and my brother-in-law are as in need of peace as I am. The other 4 are lively and loud.

My son retreats to his almost soundproof room when he has had enough, my brother-in-law goes down to his apartment.....and I continue to stand as the pivot, as the mediator and probably the calm center in the eye of the storm. In my room, you can hear every peep and my good hearing is no blessing in this regard.

At some point, I have to get out, away.
I need to be alone with myself.
I need birds chirping, trees rustling, water gurgling, just my footsteps and my breath, the sniffing of our dog beside me - I must go into the woods.

Up the hill, along the meadows and fields, just the wind in my ears, immersing myself in the cool shade of the trees, following the sound of the brook to the little forest lake.
Watching ducks, listening to the silence, tracing sunspots, lingering on my thoughts.

This scent is like my escape into the woods. Quiet, shady, cool, peaceful, soothing. I smell the meadows, the resinous trees, the dark forest lake, the wind and feel safe, comforted, and wonderfully alone.