Silence, Beautiful Silence
Famous quote: Music is the pause between the notes! Many people might argue that music is about sound, so how could the silent pauses between the notes be music? But if you think about it, if the music was a constant surge of noise, it would just be unintelligible noise. There has to be an empty space in-between each note for the sound to be recognizably music. Oh sure; today's modern music offers high-energy, high-speed tunes that makes some people wonder if it's music, but if you listen closely, there are brief pauses in between the notes -- as small as those pauses might be.
From the moment a child wakes up, his or her day is constant sound, stimulus, and chatter. If you've ever asked a child to enjoy the silence for a brief moment, it is not understood by the child. Silence with no stimulus is boring and depressing to a child. Enjoying the silence could be another way of saying, "You are being punished!" But to a parent, silence is a wonderful thing. Many parents seize those small moments when they are alone to enjoy the silence -- peace and quiet. So what is this need to enjoy peace and quiet? Why do some people crave a few moments of silence?
The human brain is a complex organ that was designed to be constantly active. It constantly seeks information, and constantly thinks in words. Many times the brain urges you to communicate thoughts and ideas. The brain just never shuts up, even when it is asleep. But often we steal a moment to find a time and place when we can deprive our brains of stimulus and silence our internal dialogs. Isn't it strangely un-natural? The brain wants to keep going, but there is a certain part of us that want it to shut down for a while. Sometimes people meditate and concentrate on silence. They actually have to force the brain to be silent. In the metaphysical world, we are told that humans live in idea-construction realities. The very place we exist is fueled by constant thoughts and beliefs. And the reason we sleep is because we no longer have the energy to sustain the idea-construction reality. It takes time to restore this energy before we are ready to once again form that world we live in.
So why do wide-awake people crave silence, and why do they wish to silence their thoughts? Is it because they realize they miss something by totally existing in this idea-construction reality? Is there a point in people's life when they want to enter situations without any pre-conceived notions altering their decisions or the things they say?
Ask yourself, "Do you like commercials?" Sure, some of them can be entertaining at times, but can you honestly say you enjoy having -- say for example -- car commercials with finance options being broadcasted into your brain? Or do you like it when you go to work and someone starts broadcasting all their woes and negative gossip about work into your brain before you even sit down to your work station? I would bet most of you like to start your day off with a fresh, clean mind and really don't care to have car commercials and negative gossip flooding your mind.
Silence is a very difficult concept to write about. But I would bet most of you agree that silence is a beautiful thing and a very useful tool to gather strength, energy, and insight. Someone once asked me what kind of music I like to listen to at home. And my kind of music goes like this: I sit down on the floor and close my eyes with head tilted slightly up. I relax my abdomen and breathe easily and relaxed. There is no noise around me, no stimulus, and no outside information to be digested. Soon my eyes begin to relax and seem to focus on the darkness of my mind. Ah... the peace and quiet can finally be felt within.
