For most of my life I’ve listened to music as a backdrop to life. Many people do. I wrote briefly on IG about this in earlier post on SoulTree Stories. It was about listening to music, especially Park Hyo Shin all day, every day. His voice has a special quality that is mesmerising. No, that’s not the right word … it’s hard to explain. There’s just something that keeps me listening to him. A lot.

But since writing the post, I haven’t been listening to music at all. I haven’t wanted to be with music or with any sound. I’ve been happily silent and in silence.

When I’m at home, I feel the comfort and peace of being quiet. And because I’m alone, I can do this. I can easily and simply be this.

And because I also know that everything is for a reason, I’m staying with the stillness and the silence. I’ll stay with it for as long as I need to. Without wondering why. Not everything needs an explanation.

By the way, the silence doesn’t mean I’m not talking to anyone. In fact, I’ve actually been having so many meaningful conversations. On-line with voiceless chatting and Skype calls or facetime. But in-between, there is no sound or noise or distraction. There is space to breathe … and be.

‘Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside. Silence doesn’t mean not talking and not doing things; it means that you are not disturbed inside. If you’re truly silent, then no matter what situation you find yourself in you can enjoy the silence.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

I read a book called ‘Silence in the Age of Noise’ a while ago, written by the Norwegian explorer, Erling Kagge. In his words, this is how he descibes an experience of silence most of us, if not all of us, will never know.

… “Antarctica is the quietest place I’ve ever been. I walked alone to the South Pole, and in that whole vast monotone landscape there was no human noise apart from the sounds I made. Alone on the ice, far into that great white nothingness, I could both hear and feel the silence”.

In reading this book, I took away a few things. One is that our present culture and society bombards us with sound and noise. As Kagge says, it’s as if we are afraid of the silence in case we have to really see ourselves. But he also observes that, in seeking and finding silence, we can find ourselves.

He is talking about not only an outer silence in our surroundings, but in finding our own inner silence. Of peace and truth for ourselves. And our inner silence, once we find it, is a personal resource – no matter how much noise there is in the world.