Silence

Very proud to have Duane Toops collaborating with me again. The text is a joint text while the art work is Duane’s.

Silence is the absence of sound but not of sense. “Silence speaks through what is not said, nor heard,” Rolando Andrade wrote in one of his Daily notes to Self. It has a texture and timbre that resonates. 

Old buildings (yes, I know, there they are again, but the subject lies close to my heart) contain a quiet of richness and complexity. A soft murmur of voices. Of crying and laughter. Lingering footsteps on tiled floors. The faint echoes of lives long gone and somehow still here. There is a hush that still has a story to tell us. That still has something to say.

Yet, many of us make rituals of avoiding it. We fill our cars, homes, and waking hours with sound. With noises. With clash and clatter and distortions. 
Are we afraid of our own thoughts? Of listening to what our minds are trying to communicate? What is it, exactly? Who's to say?

But, since moving, I am pleased that silence has finally become part of my life everyday. Sitting down, relaxing, meditating while not a sound is heard. It helps me turn inward. Makes me more aware of Nature. The moment I step into the garden, I see the blossoms. I hear the birds. As if silence has heightened my awareness of everything. As if for once, I'm finally listening.

Silence…it can speak so much louder than one thinks, it can be deafening.