The need for silence. CC Flickr image by Bernhard Latzko

More and more we are becoming accustomed to the absence of silence. We are so connected that our world has become all noise without a pause to explore our lives in silence. But why seek silence?

Only in silence, away from all the distracting noise, can we sit and see where we are headed. Evaluate our world as well as ourselves, and go back to the noise with a better perspective of how we want to be and lead our lives. Silence has become a rare commodity we have less access to everyday. Nowadays, people pay to go to silent retreats as if checking into a drug recovery clinic and this should alarm us.

The only way to take a breather and find our silence is to detach ourselves regularly from all the noise, i.e. cell phones, computers and any electronics that keep our focus away from what is really happening: our inner lives. You may contend that life is all about the noise, however, I believe it’s just a part of our lives. It’s healthy to be with people and be part of our community, true, yet a few moments of silence is in fact like coming up for air when we are happily diving under water. We need to take in air to go back down again into our diving so as not to drown.

Turn the switch off for a few moments, enjoy your silence and solitude so that when you turn on the switch again you return to the noise refreshed and more clear minded.