The title of this post is not a reference to the Simon and Garfunkel song, although it is a good song, this post is about the beauty of silence. What do you think of when you think silence? I personally think of nature and early mornings but that is probably because I am a morning person.
Today after my morning walk, I came home and rather than turn on my music (albeit classical) I decided to just make tea and sit outside in silence. It's the beginning of autumn and the weather is markedly colder than it has been. (Colder is a relative term, it was colder for my Monterey.) I can also tell that the season is changing because coming home from my walk, when I reached the normal landmark that I associate with daylight, it was still dark. It was so beautiful! I sat outside with my tea and took in the air crisp - I listened to the sea lions barking off in the distance and I heard birds chirping in the garden next door. As beautiful as classical music is, I ought not drown out these beautiful, natural sounds that inspire musicians and composers. I would like to just be in them, be part of them. I don't know that we take much time to appreciate the sound of silence in our hyper-connected buzzing and beeping world with text and e-mail notifications, constant blaring music, etc. but I did today and I appreciated it, it calmed me down and reminded me that there is more to life than my iPhone. I think I want to try to do it more. I suggest you do, too.
Today after my morning walk, I came home and rather than turn on my music (albeit classical) I decided to just make tea and sit outside in silence. It's the beginning of autumn and the weather is markedly colder than it has been. (Colder is a relative term, it was colder for my Monterey.) I can also tell that the season is changing because coming home from my walk, when I reached the normal landmark that I associate with daylight, it was still dark. It was so beautiful! I sat outside with my tea and took in the air crisp - I listened to the sea lions barking off in the distance and I heard birds chirping in the garden next door. As beautiful as classical music is, I ought not drown out these beautiful, natural sounds that inspire musicians and composers. I would like to just be in them, be part of them. I don't know that we take much time to appreciate the sound of silence in our hyper-connected buzzing and beeping world with text and e-mail notifications, constant blaring music, etc. but I did today and I appreciated it, it calmed me down and reminded me that there is more to life than my iPhone. I think I want to try to do it more. I suggest you do, too.
