Have you ever really thought about how difficult it can be to find silence. Often, we might say how we find things to be silent, but when we actually stop and listen to the quiet, there is invariably some background noise somewhere ruining the possible silence. Perhaps you lie in bed at night and think how silent it is - but maybe if you really listen you can hear owls screeching, wind rustling through the leaves, distant traffic noises, or a somewhere, a ticking clock. Do you enjoy silence? Or do you try and fill all the quiet moments with happy chatter or busy noises?
I really enjoy quiet and peaceful moments - something I know not everybody enjoys as they can also be quite lonely or challenging moments. To be left alone with nothing but your thoughts can be a very difficult thing indeed - but for me, they offer some valuable self-reflection time and they allow me time to think about and process the days' events or what has happened in work, or ponder on some provocative words I might have heard or read. I enjoy the challenge of silence.
I'm sure you've all at some point spoken with someone, finished what you've been saying and been met by silence. A pregnant pause that seems to stretch on and on and on. My old boss, when I worked in an opticians, was a fan of using silence as a technique to hear all the latest developments - the things we'd been prep'd not to retell. We would all dread his call to the store and nobody wanted to be the one to answer the phone. My colleagues would frequently break into a sweat as they realised that they had babbled their way through what had become an awkward pause - verging on a silence - and said they very thing we were meant to keep quiet. I found myself enjoying the game though. I would wait out the pause, probably with an inane grin on my face, while I waited to see if I could ever turn the table and make him crack, but invariably I would wind up the silence with a, "well, how can I help you James?" or a, "did you phone for Jodie (our then store manager)?"
A silence is an odd thing really. You can't hear silence, because in it's very nature, it is the absence of noise, but it is a very tangible thing. Even with noise cancelling headphones, you are still aware of the noises of your own body - whether you hear them, or perhaps more feel them.
Perhaps you are familiar with the proverb:
SILENCE IS A TRUE FRIEND WHO NEVER BETRAYS
-Confucius
Or maybe you know this phrase:
What about:
Silence isn't empty, it's full of answers
- Unknown
I used to go to yoga classes and we were once told that Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu believed that 'silence is a source of great strength' and by practicing silence we are able to discover, hone and honour our own inner-strength. Have you tried yoga, meditation or mindfulness? I sometimes feel they raise more questions than they resolve, but I would certainly agree that they can help resolve emotion or held bring you to a calm, neutral level internally.
If you're a radio fan and like to pop the radio on the moment you're in the car, I challenge you to try taking a journey without the radio on, no humming or talking to yourself - just be conscious of yourself, the vehicle and your journey. If you normally play music or listen to an audiobook before bed, perhaps try listening to your breath instead, or the quietness of rain falling on the window. If you sing in the shower, next time listen to the noise of the water as it falls with no other ambient noise. Perhaps, like me, you'll find an appreciation for silence - or at least, these quieter moments, and perhaps we can all find that we can learn in these moments, and come to a new level of understanding or peace. True silence, afterall, is so very rare.
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