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Silence

I've begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own. Chaim Potok

Silence.  If you find yourself scratching your head in confusion and wondering what it is then today's quote is for you.  Just to refresh your memory a bit...silence is that thing that happens when the TV is off, the computer isn't on, the phones are off, no appliances are running and you feel like without all of those things (and whatever else causes noise in your world) there is a big empty space with no noise.  That, my friends, is silence.  Silence is funny because it is one of those things that makes people super uncomfortable.  They squirm, they are agitated, they can't sit still, basically they can't handle it.  So slowly the noise comes back.  The radio is turned on (just on low so I have some sort of background music for my silence.  Um...) and then the phone is turned back on (just to vibrate so I don't miss that call that may or may not be important but will distract me from the uncomfortable moments of this silence.  Um...)  I think you see what I mean. :) 
Oh but give silence a chance.  It silence, and the stillness it leads to, is great treasure.  Silence has lessons for each of us, it has deep truths that we will only ever grasp through silence and stillness.  Potok is right - it has a quality and a dimension that you can't find anywhere else.  It holds its own special characteristics   In today's world of noise silence is like finding a rare gem that people have been searching years for.  
I don't know about *you* but I crave silence.  It's hard for me to find it anywhere so I usually have to create it.  I have to purposefully turn off the phone, TV, computer, not do any dishes or laundry (the appliances are noisy!), etc.  My life is so noisy that when I do manage to create some silence I breathe a deep sigh of relief and then I listen to it speak its deep truths to me.  I let it lead me into stillness, which is just as necessary as silence.  
How about you?  What does the thought of complete silence make you think/do?  

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