17/11/2024
Lifeless Leaf
In the thick of autumn, Rohan strolled along the familiar forest path he had walked every day as a boy. Golden leaves fluttered to the ground around him, catching the sunlight, spinning like dancers, and blanketing the earth in a vivid carpet. He looked at the trees, now bare, and felt a pang of sorrow. Nature was shedding its beauty, leaving behind something stark and skeletal. Rohan was in his own season of change, one where he felt more lifeless and disconnected than he cared to admit. The pressures of a new city, a demanding job, and the silence of his once-bustling apartment were beginning to wear on him.
As he walked, his gaze fell on a lone brown leaf, clinging stubbornly to a branch. It was crumpled and lifeless, looking out of place among the few vibrant leaves that remained. Rohan could relate. This leaf wasn’t vibrant and strong; it was tired, holding on even when the world around it had changed. He had never thought a leaf could hold such a weight of meaning.
He felt a strange kinship with this leaf—lifeless yet stubborn, hanging on despite everything. As he stared, he realized he had been living in survival mode, simply "holding on." The weight of expectation, his own fears, and the isolation he had felt all these months had drained him.
He gently touched the leaf, feeling its brittleness. In that moment, he decided to let go of the things he had been holding so tightly. He’d been so focused on staying "intact" that he hadn’t let himself grow or move forward. Watching the leaf break away and drift to the ground, Rohan felt a strange sense of release. Perhaps letting go didn’t mean failure. Maybe, just like the trees shed their leaves to survive the winter, he needed to release what no longer served him to make way for something new.
As he continued his walk, he felt lighter, as if the "lifeless leaf" he’d been clutching inside him had finally floated away, leaving space for new growth in the season ahead.
