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I’ve Taught Myself To Like Silence
From Evasion To Acceptance
Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.
~ Susan Sontag.
A 2020 survey revealed that a few minutes of silence has great positive impact on our minds. It improves mood and helps us stay in the present moment.
But we live busy lives in a noisy world. Our relationship with silence is as shifty as a shoplifter’s gaze. Just as air rushes to fill low pressure pockets, we rush to fill the silences we meet with daily. We play music while on riding the subway; call friends over when we’re alone at home; or just turn on the television while we wait for our partners to get back from work.
THE EVASION OF REFLECTION
Upon a closer look, we are essentially escaping the reflective voice within us, choking it with binge watching and empty conversations. The reality of that is an evasion of contemplation. Why would that be?
Because reflection might bring with it pain and anguish.
But we overlook the short-sightedness of this continuous evasion. The harder you evade something, the more it starts to feel like it’s chasing you. And after a period of this continuous running away from silence, even a single moment of it can feel like an attack on the senses.
