Quick Quiet Entry

at a desk
in a chair
gazing out a window
from the top floor
at these buildings
the street
the sky
this world
this life.

All that and there's a laptop in front of me. And! It's warm in here! Could life get any better? Probably not. It's so cozy and calm and quiet and smooth in here. Up here. Up and away from everything, it seems.

Pardon my gushing, I just love times like these. They remind me of when I was younger (pre-divorce) and I would stay up late during summer nights while everyone else was fast asleep. I was the youngest (out of Mom, Dad and sister), so this was basically the only time I could do whatever I wanted. I could watch anything on television. I could eat anything in the cupboards. I could play Zelda until my hands fell off. And what was it that I liked to do most of all on nights like these?

Be.

Be, and be quiet. It seemed as though the world was full of such catastrophe whenever alive. The Sun rose and so did the sounds; the sights; the motion; the sheer volume of pandemonium. Always someone to listen to, something to accomplish, somewhere to go - and quickly. People always talking. Good God. Did these adults ever stop? And the children were just as bad. But on nights like these?

Ahhh.

I would curl up on the couch, window slightly open (to better hear the midnight crickets), and I would play the low-volume version of my favorite Jim Carrey flick. Not that I needed to watch it - without being comfortable around people, I essentially had movie stars to socialize with. As such, I learned every punchline. But that was the point. It was my first attempt at my first version of a "controlled environment". It was calm, nothing crazy was about to happen, the ending of the movie was always the same.

A sanctuary is a very good idea, especially for people who find themselves mostly uncomfortable. Sometimes all you need is a night. And the cleverness to know how to properly take advantage of it.