The Loudness of Silence

am not sure how other people feel, but for me, I have been raised to think that silence is a bad thing. When I was little, whenever I did something bad, my parents would send me to my bedroom for "quiet time." This would mean sitting in my bed for at least an hour with nothing to do - no TV, no radio, no calling anyone on the phone, no talking to my brother or sister. It was an hour that seemed like an eternity. As a disciplinary tool, it was quite effective in teaching me the lessons that my parents wanted to instill in me.

I think in general, for many of us, silence is a very uncomfortable thing. I wake up in the morning to the sound of my CD player which I keep on through my shower, and then getting dressed for school. When I am in the car driving to school, I turn on the CD player in the car to keep me entertained. In the afternoon when I get home, I head for the kitchen, get something to eat, go into the livingroom and invariably turn on the television. Even though I hate the afternoon shows like Ricki Lake, Jenny Jones, and Judge Judy, I still watch them anyway because it passes the time. Even when I am studying in my room, I have music in the background (in fact there is music on right now as I write this).

I don't think I am the only person who behaves like this. There is something about silence that makes us fearful of it. It increases the tension of the environment in such a way that sets us on edge. Have you ever stand in front of someone in which you cannot find anything to say? The silence is deadly. In the movies, silence is used to build up to something unexpected, sometimes, something very terrible.

Because of how we are conditioned to perceive silence, many of us fail to recognize the importance of having silence in our lives. As young people, we often associate silence with boredom. We go to loud cafes and nightclubs; we like our music with a lot of bass; and we like our movies with a lot of sound effects.

Unfortunately, the constant bombardment of sounds in our ears is not only dangerous to us physically but also spiritually. There is a proverb which says that "Silence is golden." This is true for many reasons. Let us take a look at a plant as an example. After the farmer has sown the seed into the soil, there is a period of time in which nothing happens. Weeds seem to be sprouting up constantly, but there is nothing that comes up from the seed. Until one day, there comes through the ground a little seedling, then some small leaves, then eventually a full-fledged plant.

The period of time between the sowing and the appearance of the seedling is precisely the time of silence. It is a time of internal change. Nothing is happening above the surface of the ground, but underneath, there are thousands of activities taking place. For us, we also need that time of silence so that internal changes can occur. We need that time to reflect on our interior so that one day, we can also show our leaves and begin to grow.

Instead of perceiving silence as "nothing," it is important that we see silence as something very powerful. Silence says things that words cannot. Have you ever sat next to a friend for an hour, and the two of you said very little verbally, but after you left, you felt like you had a great time together? In this situation, silence between you and your friend was not something bad, but rather a powerful expression of the closeness of your friendship. It was silence that allowed you and your friend to feel each other's care for one another. Oftentimes, we are so distracted by the sounds of our own words and the sounds from other people that we cannot feel. Silence helps us to do precisely just that. It helps us to examine our feelings, question our feelings, and also affirm our feelings. This is important because though we may say that we want something, it is truly more powerful if we feel it as well.