The Sound of Silence

Greetings, and welcome to my little corner of the world…… This post will be a little different, so bare with me.

Life. It gets busy. Overwhelming even. It is cluttered with work and home and errands and details. Our phones ring just as the microwave sounds as we are called from another room by a partner or spouse or child. Text message alerts come and go, as we try to answer to stay connected. There are dishes to wash, clothes to fold, emails to answer.  We make grocery lists as we have vowed to eat healthier and oh yeah,  that exercise thing, we need to fit that in as well. We have that list of books we want to read that never seems to shorten, the binge watchable shows that go unwatched as we usually dose off in the middle of episode one and the alarm gets set to do it all over again tomorrow. We pretend we aren’t stressed. We have learned how to pretend well.

Sound familiar?

So we plan vacations, or at least we did, before the infamous Pandemic took over. So instead we hope for a weekend away where there aren’t too many people so we can socially distance and grab ahold of the hope that we can somehow steer clear of the dreaded COVID and god forbid, pass it along unknowingly to someone we love. We either make a point to watch the news to stay connected or steer clear to avoid the heaviness of the world around us.  And, we continue to pretend we aren’t stressed. This is normal life right?

So we try the “self care” thing. We try to take bubble baths, take evening strolls, paint our nails, try a facial and pick out a movie. Get the hair done, try to commit to a lunch or dinner date (at home or curbside pick up), plan a family bbq…..Feel better? Probably not. Even if we do, it is short lived. Momentary.

Let me ask you something. Do you know how to stop? I mean, complete stop? Have you tried? Have you gotten to know silence? I mean, true silence, not just quiet. The absence of everything.  No light or sound or movement.

Silence.

“Silence isn’t empty, it is full of answers”

Have you made a habit to disconnect? Turn of the clutter. No television, no cell phone, nothing? Have you ever sat on a tree stump and just listened. I mean, really listened to the sound of the wind through the trees? Totally focused on just that? Slowed down your thoughts to a standstill…….and just spent some time with the breeze? Really felt in on your face? Really listened to it’s sound? How it rustles through the leaves on the trees. How it ebbs and flows, stops, starts, gusts, and whistles? Have you ever noticed?

In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks – John Muir

This is not a natural phenomena. Just because you turn your phone off, sit down on a couch, and aren’t necessarily with any other humans, doesn’t mean you have tapped into silence. Just because you take that walk, sit on that tree stump and your phone doesn’t “ding”, doesn’t necessarily constitute silence. This takes some practice. Doesn’t have to be hours, it can be just minutes. But with this insanity we are all a part of, this takes intention.

Intention.

Get in a quiet place. No electronics. Focus on your breathing. Let your mind slow. As you move further away from life’s clutter, you will begin to hear. Perhaps things for the first time.

You will hear you heartbeat. You will have floating thoughts that come out of nowhere. You will notice the minutest of details that may have gone unnoticed before. If you can get rid of the clutter, you can actually hear.

“Listen to the silence, for it has much to say” – Rumi

I never realized how much healing was in silence. How much joy is to be found there. Ho much clarity and understanding.  How many of our memories we think we will hold onto forever, only to be lost in the clutter. They’re not lost, just covered up, but can be found in the silence. They will come and revisit.

The quieter you become, you more you are able to hear – Rumi

This has multiple health benefits as well, but I will keep my medical hat off for now. I have learned that my time with silence is better than any spa day, any mani/pedi or outing. Better than any medication or self help book. Better than any movie or date.

Everything you seek. Healing. Comfort. Lost emotions. Answers.

They can all be found in the silence. I promise you.

Silence. True Silence. The complete absence of sound. The span of nothing. No clutter. No white noise.

I highly recommend. Try it. Turn everything off. Lose yourself in the wonder of nothing. Get in touch with who you are, how you feel. Feel the stress leave you. And become grounded again.

Before the hectic pace of this life grabs ahold of you again.

Thank you for stopping by and spending some moments with me. Feel free to leave a comment and/or follow me on my social media contacts. Let me know how your date with silence went, I would be most interested to know.

Facebook – Cathy Ulrickson.      IG – Polley93.         Twitter @Polley93

Until next time……..be kind…….always,

Polley93