Wednesday 14 January 2015

Listen to the Silence



I switched off the TV, the laptop stood silent on the desk.  The kettle made no noise, the traffic was light outside the window.  I had no book in my hand, no letter to read, no booklet to study.
The silence suddenly appeared very loud.
I cogitated for a moment.  Maybe we use things to keep the world at bay, shielding us from that we do not wish to contemplate.  How much of the world is hidden behind the television set I wonder? How did we cope before Radio and TV?  I suppose we went to the pub, joined groups of like minded hobbyists, or, whisper it quietly, talked to one another.  Maybe that is pushing it a wee bit.
How often do individuals sit alone, quietly, and just listen?
We are only forced into this if we wake at three in the morning, then the silence can be agonising, the thoughts in our tired heads terror filled, peace hard to come by.  How strange, yet most people endure such moments.
That is different from silence by choice, a positive move I say.
Standing at Fort William looking over the Loch to the hills I was struck by the silence of such large objects, and the hills are very large.  A seagull swooped across in the far distance but no sound came, just loud silence.  Behind the town the bulk of Big Ben towered up into the clouds but again the silence was noticeable.  This type of silence refreshes the mind, encouraging thinking not making the mind afraid to think.  Silence amongst creation refreshes the mind and the heart.  
How rarely we listen to the silence, how often we block it out via the things that fill the mind.  Does this occur because that is what we wish or because we do not take time to stop, think, listen?
I will be silent now, for a time.     

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6 comments:

the fly in the web said...

I've just been reading a memoir of someone brought up before the Great War where she speaks of the sounds around her, sounds that she suspects people brought up with gramophones, then radios and afterwards televisions would not be aware of.

I enjoy the 'silence' outdoors...the birds, the wind in the leaves, the rush of the stream after rain..it is exactly as you say, refreshing.

Indoors, however, when not reading and finally forced into housework by discovery that the dust is reaching dangerous levels I put on the radio (preferably Test Match Special) as it dulls the pain of doing something which always strikes me as a waste of time.

carol in cairns said...

Check out Adrian's blog at adriansimages.blogspot.com
He spends most of the year camped near those Scottish lochs. He can be a bit colourful with his blogging but his photography is excellent and will surely bring back those memories for you.

Mike Smith said...

You're right - I went to the pub...

Lee said...

But....the question is....did you cogitate silently?

I love silence. Randall, my ex came up for a visit on his birthday...Sunday just past...and he commented on how wonderfully quiet it is here where I live, as opposed to where he lives. He has very noisy neighbours. I have no neighbours, really...so at times here...the silence certainly is golden.

At least with a radio or television you can turn the voices off if they annoy you...it's more difficult to do that with people most times! :)

Lady Di Tn said...

By choice I have silence each day and I listen to the sounds of Nature to cure the spirit of man's noise. My favorite part of hunting was just sitting in the woods experiencing what was provided for me by Mother Nature. I can vividly remember counting a fox squirrels whiskers as he sat below my booted feet on the tree which I occupied.
Ah Silence is Music for the Soul. Peace

Adullamite said...

Fly, the sounds of a hundred years ago must be very different.

Carol, yes I will look. Hills are very quiet. Male you see...

Mike, Quiet? With a woman in the house?

Lee, Randall must be impressed with the silence, you notice it when normally surrounded by sound.

Lady, Lucky lassie!