Silence has become one of our rarest commodities. And I meet people all the time who struggle with hard feelings and have no idea why or how to face it. And so, they turn up the volume in the hope it goes away.
In the last article I shared about a story of my daughter walking around in oversized shoes. A moment where I paused and was reminded of an important life lesson. The value of embracing the moment and being fully present.
I must admit like all of us it is easy to miss such moments. In our day and age we are surrounded by constant demands for our attention. Silence is something we can only enjoy through intention. We are busy people surrounded by relentless noise. And I was intrigued to discover that constant exposure to noise has negative effects on our well being and our motivation.
Noise that constantly draws us away from ourselves. Yet its not just noise; music constantly in the background, people around us, road traffic or the lawn mower next door. It’s the noise we create within ourselves. Conversations at the café with our phone on the table at the ready, Netflix to fill the empty evenings, and infinite amounts of news to read. We have unlimited opportunity to escape ourselves, and we do.
Silence has become one of our rarest commodities. And I meet people all the time who struggle with hard feelings and have no idea why or how to face it. And so, they turn up the volume in the hope it goes away.
And yet it is the opposite that we need. It is sustained silence that is required of us. Regular space where we can be still, allow the self-reflection, allow ourselves to see life around us from the quiet.
This is no crazy new movement, no new fad. This is simply something that has been constant through all human history. Spaces of stillness and loneliness were the norm. Valuable spaces to consider self and life. And its still there. Turn of the radio in the car, stay off your phone in the loo, go for a walk without headphone in your ear. And allow yourself to consider life.
Because the funny thing is that much to my surprise silence is often the highlight we hear from students. I run cool as adventures, amazing team building challenges filled with laughs and giggles. Yet so often when asked about their highlights, it is often the silence. Because silence and stillness has become a lost art and we have become disconnected from the quiet voice within us.
Michael Wilkes – Living Well Trust Youth Worker