Yes to Silence

[Written on June 16] I meditated for an hour on my balcony. Just the waves, some background music and my breathing. It was a nice break from the crowds on the other decks.

I'm very thankful Melissa and the boys are willing to give me this time. I'm still learning how to ask for and receive the gift of silence. 

For most of my life, I've seen introversion as a weakness, something to overcome so I can fit into society. I'm realizing that I do fit in just by being human. Sure, I have quirks, but we all do. So maybe quirks aren't as quirky as we think.

I think what I probably fear most is standing out in a crowd. I don't like eyes and attention. Ironic that I'm writing my thoughts down in a public forum for others to read. One of the interesting thing about us introverts is our mind is always going. For every word spoken there's probably a hundred left unspoken. I don't know why they're left unspoken. Maybe they're disorganized. Maybe there's already too much noise going on and we don’t want to add to it.

What I do think is silence is a precious commodity in our culture and we should learn to place a higher price on it. It's okay and actually a wonderful thing to have periods of solitude. It helps make you more present when you're in the company of others later.

So I say yes to silence. Or rather, I think yes to silence.

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