sounds

it seems to me...

when we begin to increase the volume of that which is around us, our music and such, it is a signal that something on the inside seeks to be listened to. we reach for the dial to turn up the volume to hear something more. it is not something "out there" that wants to be heard, but rather something on the inside. in someone's more troubled times, you might notice him turning up the volume (sometimes, even, to drown out a voice of despair). our solace, however, is in spending time listening to the silence in such times, and listening to that which is within.

when we are more connected to the voice of the Universe, when we practice listening intently to our Spirit, we need less volume in that which is around us.

or so it seems to me.

i hope one day i have better words to describe what i am learning in the practice of silence.

silence

it used to be i found it difficult to experience a thing without telling of it, and i knew a thing more by how i spoke of it. in a way, it seems, i experienced myself from the outside in.

these days, though, i experience a thing and struggle to find words to express it. my experience is from the inside out.

my silence is become more profound. i know there be some who would suggest silence is the absence of sound but oh, silence is more a presence and less an absence. silence is what is; it is from whence all else comes. i spend some time every day in deep silence, usually with ear plugs. it is become my place of residence. if i am too long away from this, i become less of who i am. you have undoubtedly heard, or perhaps have used, the expression "i just wasn't myself"...in the silence, this is where one becomes found, and too long away leads to "not being myself" or at least not fully so.

silence is the place of creation, from whence all else comes. if you want a thing created, go to the silence.

i meditate. sometimes i lie on my back and listen to the sound of my own heartbeat. i live on the edge of tears. i give thanks.

and each day, i practice silence.

photography by permission

graham jeffery