Embracing Silence
With little or no preamble this evening, I thought I would just let go with a stream of consciousness rant I penned earlier today.
I have found that silence has a unique presence. We all need daily doses of it to inoculate ourselves from being afraid of it. We crave sound these days because it is a distraction. We don't want to think and feel, or act upon, all the crap we see going on around us.
If we spend some time in silence each day, we just might begin to loosen the cogs in our cognitive functions -- we might start THINKING for ourselves and awaken from our mind-numbing routines of work, home, sleep, eat, gossip, passive entertainments -- usually of the frivolous sort -- and DO something important.
The simple act of reading a book, or taking a walk, or visiting a friend and having a real conversation, has become overwhelming for so many of us. I think the thing that frustrates me the most about humanity these days (and I speak for myself, as well) is the spectacular waste of potential that occurs each and every day.
I watch brilliant people never finish the projects that they start. I see high school kids with no ideas and no plans. I see myself give in to exhaustion at the end of a work day and I have written nothing - which really falls short of my goal of at least 500 words of SOMETHING each day.
Perhaps this is part of our test in life. This is part of our salvation - to find what we're really good at and figure out ways to use it. This takes discipline and thought. This takes moving from a passive state into an active one. We procrastinate what we know we would enjoy because it could be difficult. It is both understandable and outrageous at the same time!
Yet, learning to embrace a few moments of silence can put us in touch with our own minds. We can think ... we can plan, we can wake up our minds.
There. The rant has officially ended for now.
Hugs to the Tribe!
-- LA
I have found that silence has a unique presence. We all need daily doses of it to inoculate ourselves from being afraid of it. We crave sound these days because it is a distraction. We don't want to think and feel, or act upon, all the crap we see going on around us.
If we spend some time in silence each day, we just might begin to loosen the cogs in our cognitive functions -- we might start THINKING for ourselves and awaken from our mind-numbing routines of work, home, sleep, eat, gossip, passive entertainments -- usually of the frivolous sort -- and DO something important.
The simple act of reading a book, or taking a walk, or visiting a friend and having a real conversation, has become overwhelming for so many of us. I think the thing that frustrates me the most about humanity these days (and I speak for myself, as well) is the spectacular waste of potential that occurs each and every day.
I watch brilliant people never finish the projects that they start. I see high school kids with no ideas and no plans. I see myself give in to exhaustion at the end of a work day and I have written nothing - which really falls short of my goal of at least 500 words of SOMETHING each day.
Perhaps this is part of our test in life. This is part of our salvation - to find what we're really good at and figure out ways to use it. This takes discipline and thought. This takes moving from a passive state into an active one. We procrastinate what we know we would enjoy because it could be difficult. It is both understandable and outrageous at the same time!
Yet, learning to embrace a few moments of silence can put us in touch with our own minds. We can think ... we can plan, we can wake up our minds.
There. The rant has officially ended for now.
Hugs to the Tribe!
-- LA
Great thoughts! I agree completely!
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