The Gift of Silence

I love silence. I love the space between the gaps of words. When I am in a session, or holding space for another, I can hear so much in the in-between dashes of words and sounds. The difficulties of trying to answer with vulnerability are miraculous to me. We avoid those silences. We hold on to sound all day long... at least most of us in the Western world.

Sometimes when I am in that space, during meditation, songs will pop up like playlists. I acknowledge them and return to the nothingness of sound. I have learned to quiet my ego during those moments through deep inhalations and exhales. The ego loves drama!

Yesterday, during a wonderful Zoom gathering of incredible people, one of the facilitators, Paul Mooney from Ireland, said, "Your silence is not the absence of anything. My silence is the presence of everything." He wrote a song about this. You could see everyone getting their pens and papers to write that out. 'Cause it is extraordinary! We were all silent for a bit. No awkwardness. And in that moment I experienced another level of woowooness, or as he said, “…going from the woo-woo to the woo-way!”

Why do we feel the need to quickly fill the spaces with sound?

Why is it so difficult to stay present in the deafening silence?

I know that when I am struggling with something big I cannot keep my space in silence. I have music playing lightly in the background. It's the only way I can be in my own skin. When I am doing well, mentally and emotionally, I don't even need music in the car or when I take my walks. Silence provides the answers to the profound questions. Stillness holds the wisdom needed to transcend from one challenge into another.

Lao Tzu said, "Silence is the source of great strength." When you can remain in that space of quietude, especially when another is sharing, you have the ability to be incredibly compassionate. It's empathy. It's the greatest superpower to allow another to just be without filling it with words. It is the art of holding space through divinity.

How often do you allow those spaces of quietude in your life?

I love you,

Millie