For the first time in months I am alone, and for the first time in almost a year I am wrapped in a cocoon of silence. It prompted some reflections.
I realized I had forgotten what silence sounds like.
Last year I had a daily dose of silence each day when I went to the beach. At night as the little village around me shut down I had blissful silence in my room.
Reflecting back, I realized that I haven’t heard silence since I returned to New York last fall.
The apartment where I stayed from October to May had thin walls and ceilings. Every footstep in the apartment above me creaked. The buzzer from the front door of the building reverberated in the apartment. The tile hallway floors created an echo chamber that amplified sound. People stopped for conversation on the street below, just outside the window.
In this house, a television is always on. Even if I have my earphones in, the vibration from the TV carries through the house. At night, the air conditioner interrupts the peace.
Tonight I have silence. No televisions. No air conditioning. No footsteps creaking above me. No buzzers buzzing, or doors opening and closing. No conversation.
Except for the buzzing of secedas its just the sweet sounds of silence.
Sometimes you don’t even know how much you missed something until you have it again.
I hadn’t realized how much my body was armoring against the noise until I felt my it exhale as my nervous system start to relax. I can feel the gripping release.
There was a time when this would have been so uncomfortable. But right now I am relishing it.
I was in the middle of working on a different piece and projects. It can wait for tomorrow. For now I wish to savor this moment.
Even my thoughts are silent.
This is truly grace.
What a gift to be cradles by silence’s warm embrace.
[…] Learning to sit in silence — and with silence — is one of those skills that should be taught in schools. Silence contains wisdom. It embraces us with warmth. […]