In life, we have all sorts of things that we’re pursuing at any given time, and they all fight for our attention in our heads. We think we have to keep up, and so we try to keep track of our opinions, thoughts and ideas. We think this brings us great productivity, and you know what? Maybe we’re right. But it doesn’t bring us everything in life. 

   During the past few weeks, I’ve really been noticing just how noisy my brain is. And I’m sure if you’ve been following the blog for a while, you know that I’m all for mindfulness and meditation, all these things that hypothetically quiet the mind. So, what gives? 

My own issue

   I don’t think it would come as a surprise to many people that I’m not a perfect person. I make mistakes but even more than that, I don’t always live up to what I talk about on this website, and lately, my mindfulness practice has been no exception. My inner monolgue is trying to move in many directions at once, my mental connection to my body is lacking and worst of all, it’s paved the way for this other perspective that I don’t quite like: an emerging belief that silence must be filled. 

   I’m starting to see more and more an attitude of needing to modify silence with something, anything, just to not have to inhabit it fully. Whether that’s sharing my own half-baked opinion on something or putting on something in the background “for noise”, it’s like I’m not comfortable in silence these days. And that’s a real shame. Because when you’re not comfortable in silence, essentially what that means is you’re not comfortable with simple existence. 

Silence is great

   And observing this, I thought it would be an opportune time to make a sort of ode to silence, to remind myself (and anyone reading) that silence is honestly pretty cool. Especially as we move into what many consider the holiday season, I think it’s good to reconnect with the stillness. 

   We find that silence lies at the base of any sound, any environment, any sort of existence at all. It is built on top of a stillness, a simple beingness that we can identify as silence. Silence lies in between the words of a thought or the notes of a melody. And silence, in its own right, is a thing all to itself. 

   If we can learn to embrace ourselves, the rhythm of our brains and our lives, we can learn to more fully appreciate silence. Just as you know you have a really good friend if their simple presence is enjoyable–you don’t need to add a bunch of frills to drown out the miracle of existence. You only need to be brave enough to relax into it. 

My own pledge

   In the coming days, I will be re-committing myself to my practice of mindfulness, of practiced silence and beingness. I find that there is no life circumstance that is not improved by connecting with the base of life itself, and there is no emotion that I cannot handle when accompanied by such awareness. 

   I’m going to be taking more deep breaths, checking in with my bodily experiences, and thinking before I speak. I’m going to make less plans and experience the little things more. I’m going to slow down and watch my days unfold in front of me. And I hope, in my own way, I’ve reminded you of your ability to do the same.