This is a lost art. We have so many of those as we transition between generations. There are things my parents did and taught me that I felt were absolutely silly. Now my kids are having the same type of conversations. There is another type of conversation as well—the one where the simple stuff we did as kids becomes trendy; becomes tied to some sort of faith or fad or featured as part of a larger activity. Sitting with the silence is such a trend.
It used to be that being alone was just what happened. I didn’t grow up with all of the inputs that today’s youth are obsessed with. I didn’t have a cellphone. They largely did not exist, especially not at the level they exist now. These things we call everyday items were extremely rare and always purposed. So, instead of scrolling through the latest social media feed, I read books. When I didn’t do that I sat with the silence. I let my brain decompress and all of the ideas and energies of that day melded into something useful or they sloughed away. That practice is largely lost now. It is a practice as old as time and religion. It is the mainstay of some faiths. Buddhism does it, placing your focus on the breath. Christian faiths do it, holding moments of silence or vocalizing thought through quiet prayer.
Today we do in spaces. We meditate, be it through yoga or sauna, or even shower. We take less and less time to sit with the silence and when we do it tends to be an event of some sort. Yet it doesn’t need to be. It should be daily practice. It should be how we reset ourselves to the form and the function we hold dear. It should be the way we can look at ourselves and realize our inner potential.
Lately I’ve found more time to sit with the silence. It is easier where I am at then it is where I tend to stay. Perhaps it is easier because I am older, with more life behind me than in front, and I recognize the meaningfulness of that silence once again. Regardless of how I wound back towards this path, I am finding myself again. I am finding that spark of a man who once wanted to write stories the world would enjoy. I am finding that person who wanted to pour his love into a partner and make her life ambrosia. The path we are born to can be found through that silence. We just have to find our way back to it.
Some Thoughts:
- Absolutely Bonkers Headline of the Day: “ Virginia man gets life in prison for double murder scheme in affair with Brazilian au pair“ Always with the babysitter.