Silence is essential. We need silence just as much as we need air, just as much as plants need light. If our minds are crowded with words and thoughts, there is no space for us.
— Thích Nhất Hạnh
It’s very strange. I open the gate to the barn lane and slide through. It’s about 7:30 am on a cool and sunny March Sunday morning. I am on my way to check the maternity ward where I have several cows readying to give birth. There are several inches of new snow on the ground and crystals sparkle across the gardens and through the trees. Suddenly, I walk into silence. Awareness seeps into me very slowly. I have no words to describe this moment-minute-hour. Time is not or perhaps just bent. There is no early morning bird talk, no cattle mooing, no-thing. Not even a leftover brown leaf drifts from nearby trees. I stand. Turn, looking slowly in all directions. A sense of deep and pervasive peace surrounds and pulsates me. Words are totally inadequate to describe how the earth walks through me and I become part of it.
“The world is more than just a physical thing. An awareness of its spiritual, sacred dimensions is vital not only for the survival of cultural life, but for the continuance of life itself on an earth now clearly threatened by forces which western cultures have set in motion.”[1]
[1]D. M. Dooling and Paul Jordan-Smith. I Become Part of It. Sacred Dimensions in Native American Life. Parabola Books, New York, N. Y., 1989
The people of the planet have never been more unified than now. I don’t mean everyone is in agreement on one thing. Not even close. But. But. But, we are all enclosed in a pandemic bubble wrap. Some fight it. Some are in despair. Others see the opportunities. Where are you?? I have an opportunity to pay attention and listen within. Listen. Silence. I-sol-a-te. Within my own inner world! As a dreamworker I know the deep value of silence. If you wonder about the utter necessity of silence for the health of your psyche, do an experiment. Sit Silence for 20 minutes for 10 days without fail. Then, on the 10th morning, write. Write what ever comes for 20 minutes without stopping to think or read. At the end of 20 minutes, close your notebook. Let the work you have done create peace within. Perhaps a poem has come to visit. An image of silence. Or perhaps you are receiving the gift of deep silence. Treasure whatever gifts you receive from the silence of Self.
