MAY SILENCE

We live in a loud world. Adults in the US spend an average of 12 hours and 42 minutes each day consuming media, from digital resources and social media to streaming services with ads, according to research firm eMarketer. With an array of content vying for our attention in any given moment, it’s no wonder we feel uncomfortable with silence.  

Silence is the birthplace of creation, woven into every rhythm of life that pulses in the multiverse. But can we actually define it? Many would define it by what it’s not—silence is the absence of sound, right? Perhaps the only way to know the gift of silence is to reach out and touch it, to roll it around on our tongue. When we allow ourselves the pause to be fully present with silence, entire worlds emerge. And suddenly the void of silence erupts with eternal aliveness, pregnant with infinite possibilities. 

Begin to notice the silences that shape your day. Sit with the silence at the top of your inhale, swirling and abundant. Observe the silence at the bottom of your exhale, the moment before void turns the corner into form. Rest in the silence between heart beats, or the way silence vibrates over water. Gather your joy in the silence before the crowd erupts into cheers or in the moment of anticipation between lovers. Soak in the innocent silence between sleeping and waking, leaving one world to enter another. 

Wherever transition is happening, tune your inner ear to the moment of silence in the in-between. Truth is revealed in the liminal spaces where the energy of creation waits with bated breath before exploding into form. But it can sometimes be an uncomfortable place to be. We may be grieving the death of an old version of ourselves or the life we thought we wanted. We don’t yet know where we’re going or what we’ll do when we get there. Sounds terrifying! So we fill the silence with distractions and turn our eyes from the reflection in the mirror. 

Gene Keys founder Richard Rudd speaks of encountering the true essence of silence, saying, “You no longer think but are thought by life.” Just sit with that one for a bit…

So what is your relationship to silence? How often do you give yourself this gift? What is preventing you from enjoying the pauses, the rest stops along this winding road trip? Depending on our perspective, silence can feel damning, foreboding, and isolating. Or, we can learn to dance in the ecstasy of the void where form and ego dissolve into the building blocks of whatever comes next. 

What is the silence speaking to you? How can we open ourselves wide enough to allow silence to sing its love song through us?