silence.
I was babysitting and I hadn't thought to bring a book to read for after I put the kids to bed. So I sat down on the couch and was faced with quiet like I hadn't experienced in a very, very long time.
It wasn't the library kind of quiet or even the home alone kind of quiet.
This was still, deafening, ringing, silence.
It's a pretty severe punishment to be alone in such quiet. Alone with only yourself and your thoughts.
I could have easily found something to do to occupy my time, but I didn't. I just sat in the face of silence for almost an entire hour.
Why do we hate silence?
It's because when we're not busy filling up our lives with noise and distractions, we have to actually think about our lives, about ourselves. And that makes us uncomfortable, squeamish, and sad.
We fill our minds with things to think about, our ears with music and conversation, and our hands never idle, always doing something.
But what would happen if we stopped and faced our silence?
What's so scary?
I think the answer to that more often than not is simply, ourselves.
Silence is the most severe and unwanted mirror of who we are when we're not in our usual business.
And if we sit too long in quiet, we start feeling like we need to be doing something else. We start fidgeting. We start filling up that silence with all of our noise.
But I propose that we spend a few minutes a day in silence. That we face its reflection.
Because the more we learn to be quiet, the more we love ourselves in the busy and in the silence, the more we stop to think, maybe even be a little afraid, the more we'll know to listen. To appreciate. To hope for. To see beauty. To be full.
It's okay to be quiet for a while.
It's okay to be afraid of it.
But if God commands us to "be still",
then,
let's be still.
...Love, Anna...
eeesh! sometimes I hate hearing myself, okay most times! it is true, however, the call to "be still" is a hard one...necessary and yet scary all at the same time! great post love! <3
ReplyDeleteSo wise, Anna. I love this!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cool topic to think about! Definitely challenging to be alone sometimes, but can be refreshing! Very nice, girl friend:)
ReplyDeleteWhile it is true that we are afraid of silence, humans are extremely social creatures. We're not afraid of being silent and reflecting on ourselves, as much as we're afraid that we're alone. Back in the 1900's, when psychoanalytic research on humans was not nearly as restrained as it is today, there were experiments where people would be put in a room by themselves for weeks at a time. Food and water was brought to them while they slept, and had no trouble surviving. However, most of the experimented humans had some sort of hallucination. One of them involved dogs, a man claimed to have seen and heard dogs, all around him. The dogs may be caused by the people having experiences with them being companions. This is different than voluntary isolation though, because when you purposefully go and be completely alone with that exact intention, your mind can deal without humans for a while. One thing this shows is why children are afraid of the dark at night. They can't directly hear, or see other people and they think that they're alone. The point is, silence doesn't just teach us about ourselves, but how we think of other people.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting info. Thanks Ali! However, I think you might be approaching what I said from a more scientific angle. I am thinking of it as a spiritual and societal type of thing. Because in today's world people have a lot of trouble just being still and silent. So I think what I'm driving at is the importance of being silent so that we can reflect on ourselves and not fall prey to the constant need to be "doing something". But I definitely appreciate the input...especially since I more often think with a poetic mind and not a scientific one! ;)
Delete