Quiet, Silence and Stillness

Do you remember what it feels like when the power goes out? Lights off. No mechanical whirring. No air-conditioning or refrigerator humming along.

Just – quiet…and it may be unsettling, because it isn’t typical.

Have you ever been in a disagreement with someone, and the back-and-forth cadence of dialogue is suddenly gone? There is just…silence, as though there may be nothing left to say?

What about being outside, under the stars and looking up at a clear sky that is filled with distant suns – sending signals that took ages to arrive. Have you heard that? The star-song on a night where there isn’t interruption, fear, concern, dread – simply stillness in the moment?

Our world is noisy. Not new. Not surprising. And sometimes the very thing we need to reset arrives on a whisper, rather than a shout or fireworks.

When we are accustomed to the cacophony of future worries, yesterday’s regrets – quiet may seem like something to be avoided. Maybe it isn’t. It could be the stillness of now is really all there is.

I think silence, stillness, hush and tacit each has their own beauty. Listen. Can you hear it?

– RG