I have been away from the blog for a while. This has to do with a lot of things, including winter, me taking a break for contemplation and plain laziness. But, today I'm breaking this silence with a post... on silence.
I am a person that values silence. There was a time when silence was, to me, the hardest thing to maintain. It was a time when I did most of my thinking in the midst of a chaotic and noisy environment. I enjoyed being surrounded by a cacophony of strange noises. But, time has led me to be more at ease with silence. Perhaps it is just something I began to appreciate with growing age,but now, silence is the best companion I have.
There are varieties of silence besides the voluntary, contemplative silence, the type I choose to spend several hours in, every day. Even in the noisiest of places can some of these varieties be heard. Have you ever been in a football stadium when the away team has just scored? Or perhaps you have been rioting (hopefully not) when you heard a sudden warning shot from the cops. Or, witnessed the sudden silence of two people in a heated argument as they pause to take off their jackets before getting physical.
There are also happier forms of silence. Like, when a beggar stops bothering you when you dispose of some units of currency in his general direction. Or, when there is a sudden blackout when someone is playing extremely loud music next door. Or when that incessantly bothersome colleague has a sore throat.
As you might have noticed, silence is extremely pleasant when it interrupts stuff that is bothersome. That is why I enjoy the thoughtful, contemplative silence I mentioned before. It interrupts the multiple voices and pressures of daily life and gives me a chance to listen to myself. It creates an environment where stress dissolves. But, most importantly, it enables me to listen to the currents of ideas inside of me rather than the chaos of noises outside.
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