Last week saw impromptu weekday walks with the family, most during the early evenings before the dusk gives way to the darkness of the night. While the basic purpose was to complete the requirement for the nature projects of my kids, these walks saw the quietness of nature at their best. School secrets were shared, ideas were discussed and explored and above all, one was listening for the notes in the silence.
“Keep silent, because the world of silence is a vast fullness.” Rumi
Through the silence of the walks and stillness, one learnt to appreciate the gifts around them. Besides refreshing oneself, this stillness helps one to rejuvenate their thoughts and start off fresh. Many a time, one forgets to appreciate the silent blessing s and gifts showered on one, if one is constantly clamouring for the busy thoughts or caught in the chaos of the day. To break free and find some foothold in the melee, one needs to escape to few impromptu and sudden periods of silence to refresh and rediscover oneself. Yet discernment is required at all times. Certain things are best heard when one is silent; while some things require the silence to be broken. Knowing which is which will happen as the maturity grows over time.
“Everything that’s created comes out of silence. Thoughts emerge from the nothingness of silence. Words come out of the void. Your very essence emerged from emptiness. All creativity requires some stillness.” Wayne Dyer
Voices of the Air
But then there comes that moment rare
When, for no cause that I can find,
The little voices of the air
Sound above all the sea and wind.
The sea and wind do then obey
And sighing, sighing double notes
Of double basses, content to play
A droning chord for the little throats—
The little throats that sing and rise
Up into the light with lovely ease
And a kind of magical, sweet surprise
To hear and know themselves for these—
For these little voices: the bee, the fly,
The leaf that taps, the pod that breaks,
The breeze on the grass-tops bending by,
The shrill quick sound that the insect makes.
– Katherine Mansfield
Sugar And Spice... Among Other Things 