Contemplating silence

In a noisy world I often pursue a bit of silence. That’s what I say anyway, inside my head, that silence will be the answer. Yes, an absence of noise will be the answer.

As I contemplate silence, however, I revel at the fact that I am hard-pressed to find pure silence. Some level of noise exists almost always.

Thomas Moore writes of cultivating silence by “turning up the volume on the music of the world and soul.”

I think of this as listening for other ever-present sounds that usually get drowned out by the more prominent, sometimes daunting demands on our ears, brains, and being.

In a noisy world, am I really yearning to pursue the barely audible? To give voice or volume to all the inobtrusive or subdued notes, rhythms and crescendos that possess unrealized powers?

​If I listen and cultivate this subtle silence, I imagine a new profound ability to ward off all that seems contrary.

Silence isn’t silent at all.  It’s simply an invitation to hear and love more deeply.