Moments of Silence

2020-12-01

During my first year living in Seattle, I heard a news report of a woman being arrested for throwing a frozen chicken out her apartment in the middle of a crowd of runners in a 5K race. When asked why, she said that the race woke her up. She had just completed an overnight shift at her job and she was exhausted. She just wanted quiet.

I thought about the expectation and need for quiet, and how in a city setting, it is simply unheard of. I’ve lived in a few cities in my life, and while any city may have some moments of quiet, silence is elusive. The only times I’ve encountered silence in a city were during a blizzard. Even then, it wasn’t completely silent because snow has a sound, subtle and haunting.

It’s been almost ten years since I’ve lived in a climate where a blizzard is a possibility, and I miss it. I miss the stillness. I’m not sure I’ve experienced silence in its truest form. I’ve heard of pods that are filled with water and one can pay to float in this enclosure which is dark and silent. I’m not sure I would want to try this, but it is tempting.

Tempting, to encounter true silence. No rustling of leaves of a tree, no birds chirping, not even snow falling. The closest I come to silence is to quiet my mind, and even then I need to imagine nature and soothing noises. I’ve learned to use my breath as a way to calm my spirit and bring internal silence to my busy and cluttered thoughts. If I’m needing to turn off the noise around me, I close my eyes and concentrate on my breath. This helps me quiet my mind in the midst of so much noise. While not silent, it is as close as I can get in this noisy world.