I’m just thinking about the value of silence. I can feel impelled to fill it with chatter and jokes when I’m with quiet people. Silence is a perfect void that I rush into because I imagine it means something bad, like someone is uncomfortable or doesn’t have anything to say or is bored. Or, perhaps most accurately, silence makes me uncomfortable or challenges me to have something to say or, worst of all, gives me space to be bored (which I’m really bad at).
Bottom line: For me, filling silences can be exhausting.
But Memorial Day suggests other interpretations of silence. They’re obvious, I know, but not always evident when I’m impulsively filling a void. They’re worth meditating on, I think:
Silence can mean
someone is feeling
someone is thinking
someone is remembering
someone is praying
someone is waiting
someone is taking up space for themselves
What do your silences mean? How easy is it for you to let silence fall? If you’re a teacher, do you program silence into your lessons? What are the benefits of ushering silence in and letting it be?
Happy Memorial Day. May you sit in silence for a little bit before plunging back into noisy life tomorrow.
lol, Betsy! I’m a big fan of contemplative prayer, of sitting in silence, maybe drawing on a few meditation techniques. This month a friend and I began a daily practice of sitting together in silence for 45 minutes every morning. It’s been fantastic, and has had healthy knock-on effects like pushing me to head for bed earlier and more intentionally—to try to combat my sometimes frequent insomnia with a regular bedtime and routine. We’ve cut back to 35 minutes, and not quite so early in the morning, but I know your piece here is not about this kind of silence but more a social silence. Well, that’s why I wanted to comment, because now I find myself shutting up in social situations more and more! Today I even wondered if I am losing my ability to converse! Hoping to swing into a happy balance eventually.