The Simple Joy of Silence

Shhh.  What do you hear right now?  What sounds and noises are around you?

We have two types of noises around us:  the noises of a constantly moving world (traffic, dogs barking, neighbors doing their thing, animals on the roof…).  Okay – animals on the roof may only be something on my list right now!

(this summer in the Rockies)

What else do you hear?

Why do you hear that?  Is your TV constantly on?  Is music always playing?  Are headphones always in your ears?

Living in Germany taught me this amazing sense of silence.  I was living in the middle of a compact city of 3.5 million people, and that’s where I learned silence.  Crazy, right?

Have you ever gone over to someone’s house for dinner and they don’t turn off the TV?  You feel like you’re competing with a television.  Or how about going somewhere with someone who’s on a cell phone or constantly checking it all the time?

In Berlin, I was the ONLY person wearing headphones on my daily walks to school until I learned to ditch the audiobooks and music and just enjoy my journey.  People were rarely on their cell phones as they walked or waited for the subways and buses.  No one in class rushed to yank out his phone to check his texts and voice mails during our breaks.  When class was done, we lingered.

I learned the beauty of silence.  I noticed how much more relaxed it made me.  I noticed how even though my class could barely even communicate with each other since we didn’t know much German, we learned to engage in conversation.

(this spring in Berlin)

I feel like I couldn’t do that in my US courses at all because everyone was in such a rush to turn on phones or get to the next activity.

With my classmates, I learned the beauty of silence over meals.

This weekend, pause for a moment and notice the sounds around you.  Do it in the car, at your computer, while you’re preparing dinner.  You don’t have to change anything.  Just notice.  Just embrace the effects silence can bring.

Will you do that?