The Poetry of Silence

I am a strong advocate for the necessity, value and power of words--- spoken or written.  I champion the importance of finding and expressing one’s own voice.

However, lately I have been feeling that many of these voices are adding to the cacophony that assaults us daily.

I feel as if I am thrashing about in a turbulent sea of noise---the noise in my own head, the noise that comes from our electronic devices----TV, cell phones, e-mail, Face Book and from the written word---newspapers and magazines.

It is everywhere and it is unrelenting.  Everyone is talking.  Everyone has an opinion, something to say, a need to be heard.  No one is listening.  In order to listen, one has to be quiet.

We need to take a breath.  It is ok to be quiet, to refrain, to keep secrets, to let words fail us, to let what is inside us to stay there, at least for awhile. 

It is good to recognize that sometimes we have experiences which will not be caged by words, that need to remain private, that do not need to be held up to the glaring light of exposure.

We can live in silence for a minute, an hour, a day.  We can honor that silence. And we can listen…to the poetry of that silence.