Silence

                There has been a lot of noise lately.  Electronic noise.  Political noise.  Noise that happens from simply living within close proximity to others.  Even lights create noise.  Some days it can all be too much.  This is why I have been spending so much time lately in silence.  I know I have written about silence before, but it is worth mentioning again.  That’s because, amongst all this noise that surrounds us, sometimes the best thing we can do is turn it off and be in silence.

                It’s not always that I want or need things to be so quiet.  Sometimes I can have the TV on, my computer running, as well as someone banging around the kitchen and still be able to concentrate.  Then there are the days where any inside noise is a distraction, but I can work through the car doors slamming outside, dogs barking, and the sounds of kids playing up and down the street.  Finally there are the days where any sound is going to drive me crazy.  Even the fan on my computer will drive me up the wall.  Those are the days when I need absolute silence, but not the good type of silence.  That is something different all together. 

                 Good silence is when a lack of noise or sound brings you peace. It’s not that you can’t have the other things around, but that the silence gives you a sense of calm. You’re able to breathe and have a clear mind as you sit alone with your thoughts. All distractions are gone, and suddenly everything that has been on your mind, whether you knew they were there or not, starts to organize itself. Problems find solutions. If they don’t find solutions, at least the direness lessens. Your list of things to do is suddenly more manageable. All your surroundings become more visible as you’re able to pay closer attention to them without the other distractions. Sometimes the silence can even help you notice problems you didn’t know existed because it was underneath all the other noise that was going on. There are times where these unnoticed problems can put a life at risk. If it were not for taking the time for silence, they may have never been discovered. That is the power of silence.