What’s the sound of water falling from the sky?
It depends what form the water takes.
Rain beats and drips.
Hail pounds.
Snow falls in silence.
Blissful silence.
The silence of snow is different from an ordinary silence.
The Japanese have a word for the sound of snow falling. It’s shinshin (pronounced sheensheen). The word “shin” means silence or, more specifically, the absence of sound where there was sound before.
Snow absorbs the sound in the air, dampening or even completely muting the regular surround sound effects of life.
In a world where noise never seems to abate, where we try to drown out some noises with other noises, silence can be disconcerting.
Our ears never stop working. They receive sound even when we sleep. Allowing them to rest in silence is a muscle on its own.
Like any other muscle, it takes practice to build its strength.
When we do, we experience magic.
For sitting in the silence allows us to connect within and hear the whispers of our own hearts.
[…] The Japanese term shinshin describes the unique silence of a snowfall. […]