The Rent We Pay for Quiet

Every generation before us all, spoke fondly and proudly of the good times, the golden years, the best days of their life, all being before the present generation. Rarely to never complimenting the present one. They remember the good ol’ days. When things were simpler. Their memories, their stories, “once, life was simple”… yes, life was and is simple. Love is simple. It is woven into glances, blooming in laughter, requiring no explanation. Yes it lived in stillness, in presence. Now, even the deepest relationships demand intention. Not because they’ve fallen apart, and that attention being demanding is such a bad thing, but because the world has grown louder… filled with screens, deadlines, sorrow and the ever-pressing need to stay busy just to get by. We age into complexity, shape-shifting to survive a life that charges rent for every quiet moment. And yet, we return… again and again… to the ones who matter. Not out of obligation, but out of reverence. Because in a world that asks us to move faster, love invites us to slow down. To see. To choose. And to hold on, fiercely, to the people who make all the work worth it.

March 26, 2025

-AubsThePoet