My partner has taken the kids out today and I am home alone. Alone. The quiet of my home is resounding, my shoulders have lowered a few inches, relieved from noise. I love these spaces of quiet. They are few and far in between now a days.
As I find myself in this quiet space, words come pouring. I also take a few moments to read and I love that what comes up is a certain confirmation, to embrace silence a little more deeply in my everyday life. Here is inspiration on how to embrace silence in your everyday life:
Silence in the now: Marcie Scudder writes and photographs beautifully on this subject. She talks about the silence we all crave and helps us uncover it in the Now through her verse and photography here
Silence to learn intentionally: Even though moments of silence are few and far in between for many of us, each moment can be one where we can choose silence as an inner climate. I love the questions Jamie Ridler urges us to ask to live and learn more intentionally in our everyday life, see what she says here. When I chose my moment (my workstation){and this choosing of the moment can happen only with an intention first to quieten our inner chatter} and named it, I was overwhelmed to learn how much I yearn for quiet time with my books, how much I love my (now distant) friendships and strongly embraced family ties. I get teary, I message “I love you” to my husband on the phone. This, after a very upsetting fight. Silence and openness to learn from our moments, heal us constantly.
Silence to stay open to what is to come: Openness does not come by easily. And yet, when we are able to accept that while we would like to have our lives in our hands and in our control we don’t and really cannot, we begin to allow moments to seize and transform us. Kim Ort eloquently writes about this experience. I am particularly stuck by what she says here about openness “Openness teaches us to expect surprises. It shows us how to be resilient when unexpected circumstances arise. It encourages us to let go of outcomes and let our experiences change us.” I often find myself in the throes of busy, but with moments of silence comes a certain openness to experiencing life. And the busy-ness, and holding on tightly to how things should be eases greatly.
Silence & Passion: Gently cradling silence between passion is something that I have often tried to practice. Rowen Bridler, a singer and song writer who offers a wonderful Sound healing service quotes Arthur Schnabel “The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes – ah, that is where the art resides”. She writes beautifully about the joy of silence (even as a singer and songwriter) here.
The gifts of silence are precious. What has your experience been with silence? What would you like for it to be?
To cultivate silence in my everyday life I am beginning a free weeky series for subscribers only called Experiments in Slowing Down. Read about it here (I hope you will join me!)