When the home office is empty, and the rest of my family are all busy somewhere else, silence fills the house. Silence has a lot to say, actually, but he says it so quietly.
Today I tried to listen for what seemed like forever. It was only four minutes. That's right. Four minutes.
Here's what I heard:
Rain.
The air conditioner turning on.
A car door closing in the garage.
More rain.
Then an oh-so-quiet nudging in my mind telling me that I should call my brother soon. It's been too long.
I love how the mind works when it has time to breathe.
And while my pace of life would indicate that I don't really like silence all that much, I do recognize the need for it and the value it can bring to my life. I've read at least a thousand blog posts or tweets about how important it is to "go silent" in the social media world every so often. Just disappear. Get off the Twitter grid. Let silence speak before your virtual world consumes you.
So what's the point of silence? It clears the mind. It's like a beach retreat for the creative side. You have a hammock, a breeze, and nowhere to plug in your phone. So I've made up my mind to allow for "clearing" on a more regular basis. Enjoying silence daily instead of waiting until the screaming world is so loud that I can only choose silence or die.
It's working. I still don't really enjoy it, but the time I take to listen instead of talk, the time to just wait in the silence and think...it's worth it. Even if it's only four minutes.
Today I tried to listen for what seemed like forever. It was only four minutes. That's right. Four minutes.
Here's what I heard:
Rain.
The air conditioner turning on.
A car door closing in the garage.
More rain.
Then an oh-so-quiet nudging in my mind telling me that I should call my brother soon. It's been too long.
I love how the mind works when it has time to breathe.
And while my pace of life would indicate that I don't really like silence all that much, I do recognize the need for it and the value it can bring to my life. I've read at least a thousand blog posts or tweets about how important it is to "go silent" in the social media world every so often. Just disappear. Get off the Twitter grid. Let silence speak before your virtual world consumes you.
So what's the point of silence? It clears the mind. It's like a beach retreat for the creative side. You have a hammock, a breeze, and nowhere to plug in your phone. So I've made up my mind to allow for "clearing" on a more regular basis. Enjoying silence daily instead of waiting until the screaming world is so loud that I can only choose silence or die.
It's working. I still don't really enjoy it, but the time I take to listen instead of talk, the time to just wait in the silence and think...it's worth it. Even if it's only four minutes.