How hard is it for you to sit in absolute silence?
Tonight - it's beyond difficult. It is 2am and I cannot sleep. No, I am not stressed about anything (believe it or not!) nor did I consume any caffeine today (a first!) However, laying in the dark was brutal.. the silence deafening.
I think if I were surrounded by tons of people all the time, I would probably crave the silence. However, as luck would have it, I get as much silence as I want. No kids, no pets, and my husband is a fairly quiet man.
I find that when I am around people with a lot of "hustle & bustle" going on, I tend to find it almost jarring. I do like to be invigorated, but I suppose I prefer it on my own terms.
I did experience a weekend of silence once. I booked a weekend at the St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Alabama. It is a Benedictine monastery. To see more about my visit click here. What I found to be the most difficult part of the journey was the absolute silence I had to surround myself with. My mind tends to rattle on and on.. and sitting alone with my thoughts actually made me very sad.
It was a different time and place - my egyptian was still in Egypt, I had received a not-so-great review at work, I was living alone... it was just a tough place to be. I went seeking solace and comfort in a weekend of meditation and spiritual healing - and ended up feeling bare to the bone in who I was.
Libraries, doctor's offices, meetings, testing, elevators - these are just a few places we have to discipline ourselves to just be silent.
If I really need absolute silence - I head straight to my tub for a bubble bath. I have a large garden tub, I throw in the bubbles and light a few candles and I just soak away my cares.
Where do you go for silence? How do you react when you have no choice but to be silence?
5 comments:
I love silence and I NEED it too. I am lucky that I can achieve it several times in my day. The bath, the bath, that sounds wonderful.
I need more silence! My kids are soooo loud. I put my ipod on to soft music when I need to chill out!
Here from Lady Bloggers!
I require silence and I'm not picky as to how I get it. Right now I'm sitting at the table listening to the rain. Lovely!
I am like you, I like silence and hustle and bustle on my own terms....and I know what insomnia is like. Was up most of last night...that is the worst silence.The non chosen and non embraced.
My hubby too is quiet when he is here, which is not too often as he is always at work and we are now empty nesters so I sit in silence a lot lately and it can drive me nuts ! Funny how much I craved this when the kids were little though :P
Thanks for the compliment on my blog!
I go to Yoga for silence. Err more for meditation. If I want to, I can lay down in the heat and zone. She may be speaking but it's more a mantra. No one else is allowed to speak and it's quite nice.
I also just curl up into bed and read if I so desire solitude.
Post a Comment