S is for Silence

Silence: Middle English from Old French from Latin silentium, from silent, meaning to be silent. The absence of sound or noise, stillness. The spelling and meaning haven't changed all that much.

I like the word silence, it's a whispery sort of word. Its sound is descriptive of its meaning.

We of the hearing world are never truly in silence as there are noises of one kind or another going on all around us all the time. The noises of the house, of the road, noises of birds, the wind, nature in general. The slight buzz and clicks we hear in our own heads.

But there is a kind of silence we can impose upon ourselves, the deliberate silence of not adding noise to our lives. No iPods, no radio, TV, no music, news, sitcoms or violent dramas. In that self-imposed silence we can hear nature, we can also hear ourselves, hear our own thoughts.

I think there is too much noise in our lives. I read (there are a lot of articles on the web) not long ago about how people are loosing their hearing because they listen to stuff through ear-buds too loudly. Particularly children. When I was a teen and young adult loud concerts were a concern and I know people my age who are hard of hearing because of it. On the rare occasion hubby and I decide to spend money on going to a movie we bring cotton to put in our ears because the theater is just so damn loud. Why does it have to be so loud?

I have always been comfortable with silence and with being by myself. I think it's something a writer may need to be.

Are you comfortable being quiet and still? Or do you need to have some noise going on in the background.

And here, from 1967, live...

Then there's this potent and beautiful meditative verse from Psalm 46:10: Be still and know that I am God.