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SILENCE, PLEASE

Wednesday Mar. 22, 2017     

A moment’s silence, please – we’ve all done that at meetings, at services. On Nov. 11th too. Sometimes time flies by, sometimes seems interminably long.  Depends where our mind goes.

How about a whole silent day, deliberate planned absolute quiet?

Not 100%. I’ve tried – just me, my keyboard capturing my thoughts – I’ve considered too, moving to some remote place. Not year round, but a place to write, getaway, hideaway from the world, commune with nature, wind and bird songs. Otherwise nothing. No tunes, no TV, no devices. No calls in or out. No doorbells. No noise, nobody in sight – just to be alone and quiet with our thoughts in our head.

Nearly everyone has voice, uses it every day. Our ears are flooded with sound – but are we listening, are we hearing what is important or are we simply taking in every sound in a passing day without a filter, without a focus, without attention, without intention …

Some people hide their silence – politely conversing, like a TV commercial voice-over, disguising truth rather than revealing it. Some people go silent by choice, some by circumstance – some are driven there, some run to it as safe refuge from something they fear, something large and scary which they cannot face.

Could you do that – have that absence of sound filling your ears? Could you handle not talking? I know I could – and recently I’ve done that a few times, just shut everything off and made only essential outgoing calls. I gave everyone’s ears a day of rest and rested my vocal cords too.

Which begs this question: what do we have to say, and does it matter?


Reader feedback:

FACETIOUSLY SPEAKING

Hi Mark. Got your card in the mail and having just returned to Canada after wintering in Mexico thought I should write back. Don't do mail anymore. Trying to minimize the amount I get in hard copy. I did pass through Calgary on my way back to Vancouver island. My eldest is getting married in November so the hoopla begins now. We are off to Europe for the month of April and will plan to be in Calgary mid May. We should meet for a beverage at the Ranchmans Club and get caught up. Keep writing!, DM, Ladysmith, BC 


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