Silence

Silence is the quieting of our own voice in order that other voices may be heard. In ordinary conversation we cannot  truly listen to another unless we are silent.

Silence is more than the mere cessation of noise. As an introvert I am quite used to being in company and not saying much, but this taciturnity is not real silence because even though it might not be audible to others, my voice is not still. Inside my own mind my opinions continue to be expressed, judgements and observations are still made, and whole lines of arguments are developed, entertained and discarded.  Imaginings rise and drift past and disappear only to make way for other imaginings. My own voice drowns out the voices of others just as much as, or perhaps even more than the voice of the most prolix extrovert.

Silence is a quality that I need to work at. I need to cultivate it as deeply as I can. To choose to calm the inner voices requires effort and concentration but it is effort that is well rewarded because when I can be truly silent, it is possible for me to be  present to what is here, present before me in the eternal now.