The Sound of Silence
So much of life is contradictory. So, in keeping with the bounty of irony that often surrounds, this post provides quite the juxtaposition to the previous one. :)
Last night, after a cooking class at Whisk, with one of my wonderful clients and her team, I stayed over at my sister’s house in the attic. Her attic is amazing - you can’t hear a thing up there, nor can you see a thing. It’s glorious, and also disorienting. I woke up to a dead phone, and went downstairs to see what time it was.
I plugged my phone into the charger in the kitchen, and looked outside to try and get a sense of time. They don’t have an oven clock, and I didn’t fully trust the clock hanging in the kitchen, as I’ve known it to be dead in the past. The light outside looked like morning light - and there was still a bit of frost on the window. But I felt so out of sorts, and couldn’t even guess what time it was. When Alex, my brother-in-law got off the phone, I asked him what time it was and he said it was ELEVEN.
Which was the start, of what has now been, a day of true rest…. a state I’ve been needing more of lately, though I sometimes I find myself fighting like a little kid trying to get out of their nap. Rest and silence have been a theme for me as of late. As a teenager I dealt with fatigue that was so consistent and heavy, the only thing we could land on was that it was chronic fatigue. In my 20s I feel like I rebelled against my body and it’s need for rest, as I didn’t want to miss out on more of life because I was too tired.
My 30s have involved more space for rest and silence, and I’ve learned to listen to the need for it more and more. However, I feel either the need has increased even more recently— or my listening skills have just increased — and I’m trying to listen. My brain often has a million ideas and plans it wants to pursue, while my body is asking for a long winter’s nap.
Some dear friends have experienced some serious burnout lately, which has required full halt stops on work and plans. I find myself relating to some of the symptoms, and I know it’s become a hot topic lately, but often hot topics or trends are there for a reason — the masses relate. This brief Harvard Business Review article I read recently, summarized the benefits of silence well. Silence gives our nervous systems time to recover, and helps our brain become more adaptable to the ever-changing world around us. New brain cells form in the hippocampus, the region of our brain where memories are stored and new learnings are retained.
In silence, we find space to think new thoughts. Dream new dreams. Think about our life and the lives of those we love in new ways. So, as I’m wintering, and find the light of days shorter, and the dark of nights longer, I’m going to try and lean into the silence. Not be disoriented by it, but let my soul settle in it, and rest.
Image by Aditya Vyas
P.S. This is my cozy spot in the living room, where I muse tonight.
