I have ran from silence for all my life.

In the car I always had music playing or I would listened to various sports talk programs radio. I don’t recall a time, until very recently, when I allowed my mind to wonder freely while driving for long distances. I am amazed at the results and becoming quite addicted to silence.

There is just something wonderful about it. I don’t know how to explain it, but there is a sense of peace and tranquility that comes with it. Not to mention clarity and you just don’t get much of that throughout the day while you’re running around subjecting your mind to do this task or that.

I think silence is playtime for the mind.

I always looked at my mind in a linear way. It was a thing. A computer that gave me what I needed, when I needed, but I think I was underestimating the unlimited possibilities of the human mind. The mind is not linear. It’s not a solid or a liquid. It’s more of a gas, capable of encompassing everything, dealing with everything and nothing all at the same time.

I think you should try silence sometime and I would love to hear from you so that I can be certain I am not really imagining any of this.

I am not speaking here about the art of meditation. I have given this a try too, although I find it a terribly burdensome process. A very simple but most difficult exercise to undertake. Maybe I have a bad teacher. I could definitely use some help in this area.

What I am talking about here is the simplicity of silence. Unlike meditation, where you try to chase away random thoughts that come to you so that you can reach a higher plane, in this instance, you welcome all of them, without judgement, without interruption.

You welcome them all. No matter where they come from. What they say. What they show you or how they make you feel. They are all invited.

Silence is liberating.

I have an hour drive to work every morning and now that I have done it for a few months its amazing how many different thoughts cross my mind in that hour. Thoughts which would otherwise be trapped and never had the opportunity to speak and assert themselves.

I think about the things I need to do today, the things I dream of doing one day, and I sometimes recall the happy and sad things I have already done. I am embraced by memories of people who were dear to me and have died. Their life, through memories floods my consciousness, as do dreams of what my children will look like one day, sound like, and be like, someday.

I can’t say enough about silence. It is one of those free gifts you can give yourself. A much needed gift in a world filled with noise and seeming chaos.

It’s funny how you discover things as you get older. Simple things. Uncomplicated things.

I am addicted to silence.

It makes me a much better human being. A more caring, fully alive, meaningful, happier human being.

 

Cover photo generously provided by photographer Ricardo Mancia via unsplash.com