Silence
“A
silence that is like a lake, a smooth and compact surface. Down
below, submerged, the words are waiting. And one must descend, go to
the bottom, be silent, wait.”
Octavio
Paz (The Bow and the Lyre)
My favorite time of day
is very early morning. Before traffic starts on the main road two
blocks away, before folks are out walking and dogs are compelled to
bark. There is me, there are birds singing, and occasionally leaves
fluttering together. Otherwise, silence. My next door neighbor has
installed a large box-fan for his two Labrador Retrievers. In the
early morning silence, it sounds like a jet engine. I'm glad for the
dogs, since afternoon temperatures have been around 100 degrees, but
its sound is distracting.
I wonder about you—is
there any silence in your day? Silence offers us an opportunity to
dive deep and listen to our inner conversation. In silence, we can
access our creative spirit and actually listen to and visualize its
ideas. We can breath in calmness, and allow it to set the tone for
the rest of our day. Even five minutes of alert silence at the
beginning of each day can improve health and mental acuity.
“Silence allows the
soul its preferred context, that of receptivity and contemplation—a
stillness that beckons the authentic self to emerge.” (Garfield,
Spring & Cahill; Wisdom Circles, p.115) Silence offers us an
opportunity to go beyond words and enter the deeper, older areas of
the body/mind. We get beyond the subterfuge of the ego and its
persona and listen, instead, to the wisdom of the heart and the gut. We find out
not only what we think, but also, what we feel; what's real for us
without all the excuses and disclaimers.
If there is no silence in
your day, I urge you to find time and space for it—even five minutes
will do. It is good for the body, and even better for the soul.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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