Silence is not a void of noise and activity. Rather, it is filled with the grace of interconnected thoughts and feelings, wishes and desires. It can be manipulated as a control seeking weapon to create an off kilter feeling for others or released as a soothing hand of peace.
Kept to oneself or shared with another,
silence can be
silence can be
disturbing
calculatingly frosty
comforting
loving
questionable
uncomfortable
fractured
broken
bonding
beautiful
confusing
reassuring
resting
life ending
life affirming
sorrowful
hushed in hesitation
hushed in hesitation
trapped
tempting
angry
meditative
prayer-full
eternal
drowning
contemplative
depressing
hibernating
struggling
restful even breathing
restful even breathing
freeing
breathlessly loving
embracing
intense
noisy!
softening
surrendering
trying
irritating
irritating
frightening
intimate
reverentially refreshing
mysterious
reverentially refreshing
mysterious
Is it no wonder we struggle to interpret the silence of another? Its meaning is so broad. Why? Is it because silence is always tied to cause and effect...........? What precipitated it? What is the reason behind the silence? Why have you chosen to be silent today? Silence is not a void of noise and activity. The type of silence we choose communicates messages to all..........
What does your silence mean today? How do you think others are interpreting it? How are you receiving the silence of others around you? How does it make you feel??
9 comments:
Skip's silent stare used to scare the bejeebers out of me!!
It said more than a thousand words could say - it delivered a message so loud and clear.
It was the loudest silence ever!
"Daisy"
haha! OOOOOweeeee....you just sent shivers down my spine with that memory, Daisy.
OMG, I remember one of those moments very vividly. On the first night of camp when I was a "senior" camper, we were all so wired and excited to be back together again. (there were TWO tents worth of us!! Joy and Joanne were there!!) We were hooping it up, taking photos in the dark with all the flashlights on etc. All of a sudden, a bed we had ALL been sitting on crashed through the wooden platform. Needless to say we screamed and laughed our guts out and woke up the whole tent line........
Then......... a one word blast from the front of the tent.... then silence..... when the bunch of us who had to return to our tent had to file past him, it was silent like I've never experienced. Dark too. All I could see were his bright white Keds!
Scary loving Dude our Skip. We've got to get a reunion planned. I miss him. xx
living in a family of dreamers silence is pretty comfortable in our house from time to time but I do know people who don't like silence and walk away from it
My mother's silence still puts the fear of god in me. It is worse than screaming, I can tell you.
My favourite kind of silence is just sitting in the garden listening to the trees rustle and the birds cheep. I love that!
Your post was God ordained today..thank you. I have been feeling very meloncholy these days which is new for me and my silence has been interpreted as being in a bad mood by my family, which is NOT the case at all. I'm just quiet and they are not used to it. This makes me sooo mad and then I get in a bad mood. UGH. I HATE being misunderstood in my silence. And I HATE my family not believing me that I'm just quiet and that is okay! Thanks for posting this! Karyne
I think sometimes we interpret the silence of others according to our own feelings! If we are feeling guilty, whether justifiably or not, then the silence will seem threatening. If we feel antagonistic towards someone then maybe we interpret silence as, again, threatening.
I don't know, maybe I'm talking rubbish. But some people cannot bear silence, and keep asking "Are you OK?" when all we want is a bit of quiet!
marja....my house is like that too. there is a comfort in the silence.
Silence in the counseling environment can be a bit disturbing, but is very much needed as a means to move towards change through problem solving.
Selma.... I'm trying to think of someone in my daily life who scares me when they use silence like that and I can't think of anyone off hand. I do have a friend or two who go silent for periods and I tend to try to fill in the blanks wondering if things are alright. It's more of a worry on my part.
My favourite time? Early morning on Saturday, when my family is still fast asleep and I have time to breathe out and breathe in....and write.
Canoeing too. I love the calm quiet on a summer day while paddling. I don't do that often enough.
Gilly....i think you hit the nail on the head! I do that.... and I think others do too. Its difficult NOT to interpret someone else's silence through ones emotions. The fear of rejection maybe is what gets in the way. If we are feeling shaky and in need of affirmation, perhaps this is when we misinterpret the silence more readily?
I enjoy silence. Usually when I am silent, it is meditative. I don't tend to use silence as a weapon at all, I got enough of that from my mother.
Recently a sign outside our local church read: "Silence may be misinterpreted, but it can never be misquoted." I liked that.
I tend to worry about the silence of others in relation to me when 9 times out of 10 I shouldn't and there is really no reason for me to be concerned. I wish I could stop doing it because it causes me so much unnecessary anxiety.
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