I don't know about you, but
sometimes, I feel pretty dull. I am not inspired and it
seems I have nothing to say. In those moments, I refrain
from creative endeavors such as writing this newsletter.
I'd rather put out nothing than something of
questionable value to readers. So I fall silent.
But, I keep running across references to the benefits of
silence. One suggested that if I want to move nearer the
Incomprehensible (sometimes called "God") I should try
sitting in silence. Another reference to silence came from a
client as she talked about spending an hour floating in an
enclosed immersion container at a spa. In earlier years they
were called "stimulus deprivation tanks" and were touted as
beneficial not only for relaxation but improved performance
if the desired performance was visualized while immersed in
soundless darkness, or silence.
Eckhart Tolle ("Power of Now") in an autobiographical
statement recently said the major lesson of his life was to
resist nothing. For us ambitious, change-the-world,
accept-nothing-as-it-is and control- everything Americans,
these words may not listen well. When we get in touch with
silence and stillness, we get anxious and are impelled to
get busy. After all, an "idle mind is the Devil's workshop"
and "idle hands do no good." It is very easy to go to
extremes. I will agree that too much of anything can be
harmful.
In the meantime, I pass on to you the invitation to let
silence and stillness come into your life, if it so desires,
and not fear it. If nothing else, it will connect you to
yourself and give you a chance to be at home with yourself
for a while with nothing to do but rest and get ready for
the next phase of your living.
