Sounds of Silence
I woke up a
bit earlier than usual, reached over and gave Edy a squeeze and slid out of bed
so as not to disturb our 6 year old “visitor” as he snored angelic in
dreamland, snuggled up next to “Grammy”. I made us both some coffee being sure
to wrap the grinder in a towel lest it disturb anyone still sleeping in the
house. I brought Edy hers along with a kiss and mimed a heart beating and
pointed to myself and then her……….drawing an exclamation point in the air. I
then left them both together so they could enjoy their morning wake up ritual.
They both were in heaven.
I took my
coffee and sat in front of my computer as do each morning and began reading
emails. One in particular caught my eye and as I scrolled through all the links
came to good video then home page of the author and the topic she had posted
was “your relationship to silence”. Write a bit and share if you wish. “Hummm?”
I thought, “I am a huge fan of silence and am always on the lookout for Blog
Topics”, I thought “perfect”.
I have
always enjoyed my solitude and the silence of various places on the planet.
Sailing always appealed to me more than Power Craft and Museums more than
Carnivals. As much as I love children and grandchildren and interactions with
other humans; sometimes a break is good. Today, I really love silence and the
“Power of the Pause” as one of our favorite people states it. It has not always been this way.
Until
recently I required some kind of background noise during all of my waking hours
in the form of CD’s or NPR. Truth be told I do play “waves” to go to sleep now because
I developed some kind of Pavlovian response to my acupuncturist and would go out
like a light when he turned it on in his office during procedures. No, I’m not
talking about “sleeping” , I’m talking about being uncomfortable with being by
myself, in silence; at work, in a car, “putzing” – all required background
noise and even now I find myself looking to “fill in the blank” of silence if
I’m feeling discomfort.
It started
slowly with prayers and meditation and then continued into longer and longer
stretches of time where I would not speak or hear other humans for hours at a
time. Nature is always a good place for this I found and long walks in the sage
of the High Desert would attune my ears to new sounds with each walk.
The newest
and most interesting sounds were the messages that would come to me in the
silence. Answers to questions, enlightenment on difficult topics and an
expansiveness of love for those around me, that grew unfettered by static. Sure
the “mitote” would attempt to dominate at times but soon they all just sat back
and “talked amongst themselves”.
The
image above was taken in Chaco Canyon, NM. It’s a magical place with deep
spiritual significance and history. In some circles it is considered
“sacred”. It is a tourist Mecca and is
generally full of the devout. The day I was there, there was no one and for
eight hours it was just me and the ghosts. I had a similar experience in France
at Mary Madeline’s Cathedral in Maximim. Another “sacred” Mecca in the middle of August and I had the
place to myself. Just me ,MM’s skull and more gold than I knew could exist in
one place. There was lots of silence and
more importantly the time to “hear it”.
I felt very “plugged in” and connected to all before me and all to come
on both occasions.
In our new
city I have a lot of opportunity to ride my bike. Sure, the exercise is good,
the fresh air fun and the smells wonderful,
but what I really like is hearing the whirr of the tires on the pavement
along with the feeling of being “plugged in” again………… and again………….. Sometimes it’s
deafening.
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