Is Silence Golden?

Is this you?

You live in a crazy and noisy world.

Every time you get in the car, you turn on the radio.

If you are home, you watch TV or go on the computer.

You never really have much silence in your life.

When you are experiencing so many people, with so much going around you physically, sometimes your mind just wants to shut off to all of that. You just want to be by yourself.

Too much noise! Too much confusion! Too much input!

Have you ever felt that it was all “too much”?

And silence is not just about being in a silent room. It’s about silencing your tongue. It’s our tongue that often gets us in trouble. When you speak, you should speak with thoughtfulness and care. In other words, think before you speak.

Silence is both central to the our human experience and pushed to the periphery of our lives. Silence is human, humane, and humanizing!

Language is central to the human experience as well, but unlike silence, it is front and center, on the stage. And it’s more noticeable in our lives.

“Speech is silver; silence is golden” is an old proverb that means that it’s often better to say nothing at all.

“Silence is golden, (but) duct tape is silver” is a jocular saying that has been printed on many items, such as posters, T-shirts, buttons and bumper stickers, often with the duct tape shown over someone’s mouth. Meaning that one should be quiet or be made to be quiet.

Humor aside, being quiet, experiencing silence is an important part of all of our lives.

Everyone of us describes silence differently in our lives. Silence is often associated with a peace that we can feel within us. We need that peace.

In the noisy, helter-skelter bombardment of our modern life, silence is indeed one of our most precious assets.

You need the break from all that input, just as you need sleep after the day’s activities.

That’s when silence talks to you. Sometimes it just doesn’t say anything and you feel relaxed. Sometimes it brings back a fond memory and makes you smile. Sometimes it makes you realize your mistake and makes you a stronger person.

Silence provides something essential for our well-being.

• With silence can come awareness.
• With silence can come peace.
• With silence can come reflection.

In our everyday often frenetic reality:

• We hear so much, but don’t always listen.
• We see so much, but don’t always observe.
• We do so much, but don’t always experience.
• In our sensory overwhelm, we are blind, deaf, and numb. (dumb too!)

Could it be that it was not the metaphorical “Garden of Eden” that was taken away from us, but our ability to perceive it?

Do you have enough silence in your life?

How do you create opportunities for experiencing silence?

 

 

Tags: duct tape, listen, noise, silence