Silence is Golden

The Sound of Silence

“If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which people sent one hundred and fifty lawyers whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour.”

                                                  Thomas Jefferson

“It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much.”

                                                  Yogi Berra

“The opposite of talking isn’t listening.  The opposite of talking is waiting.”

                                                  Fran Lebowitz

          I’m taking a break from the news.  I tend to listen intensively when important events are going on in the world, like a presidential campaign, or a global disaster.  After a while my mind rebels and I have to shut it off.  Do you ever feel as though you are constantly bombarded by talk?  I’ve sworn off all Boards of Directors and that deadliest of inventions, committees, because invariably there is one person in the group who loves the sound of his/her own voice and will cause the meetings to run on for hours.  And, don’t even get me started on politicians.

          Perhaps my intolerance comes from having grown up with my grandmother, Mayda.  She was a vociferous woman, or in the words of that famous theologian, Bonnie Raitt, “she could talk the chicken right off the bone.”  In my family of origin, the television was always on, music was usually playing, and if Mayda was in the house, she was yakking.  I spent a lot of time outside in the woods---giving my ears a rest.

          Today, it seems, the world is populated by Mayda-clones.  Silence is almost non-existent and solitude is considered neurotic.  But, if you want to get in touch with that still, small voice, or even sort out your own thoughts and feelings, I recommend a day spent in silence.  You may have to leave home to do it for a whole day---there’s always the telephone that one feels compelled to answer, and TV is a seductress.  Lent is a good season for claiming time for solitude.  If you feel a need for words, write them in a notebook or journal, or draw a mandala that depicts the sentiment.  Practice waiting. 

                                        Keeping the faith,

                                        Jane