Skip to main content

Listening to the Silence

I have seen a handful of foreign films in my day. They have a distinctively different feel to them than American films. Obviously, they are in a different language, but even when the actors are not speaking, I can pick up on a different energy.  I attribute this to the broad use of silence in these films. For instance, the audience is watching the character do something mundane, such as sleeping, and there is neither background music nor noise.
That led me to thinking how many times we fill our days with noise. Be it the television, traffic or conversations.  There are times I want to just bask in the glow of silence.
 Then the question arose in my mind—can we really accomplish complete silence?  The times I want to eliminate distractions, I can still hear faint noises. If I’m outside, there are birds chirping, or the rustling of leaves as the breeze blows. If I’m indoors at home, not everyone is like me and turned off the television or not speaking. Nor should they-- it was my conscious decision to try to add some quiet time in my life.  Heck, even as I type on this noise reducing subject, the computer keys are clacking.
Nevertheless, I still work towards keeping the stillness in my mind. During these times, I concentrate on my breathing and slowly, the outside noises are not as distracting.

For me, it is easier to accept that there truly won’t be absolute silence—that can only be obtained by living in a vacuum. Or by being a star in a foreign film. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How's the haircut?

Isn't it amazing how a bad memory can stick to you like a wad of gum in your hair? You try to remove it, but in order to do that, you need to cut off some of your hair? At first, you’re apprehensive, but in the process, you end up with a nice hair style? At the beginning of my career, I was working at an apartment complex.  I must have upset my boss by interrupting him when he spoke to me.  I hadn't realized I was in a bad habit of talking over him. I was so anxious to prove I was on top of all the assignments, but in this process, wouldn't let him get a word in edgewise. One day, he held up an eyeglass case and said this signified when it was his time to talk. In front of the other staff, he actually held up the case while he spoke to me. I was embarrassed by his demeaning ways. I didn't put any credence in his opinion. I wrote him off as being a mean old man! For a while, I carried this memory like a wad of hardened gum in my hair. It was brittle and would have...
Post a Comment
Read more

Just a note

If you visit my website, you can now read the first chapter of my book for free! Please feel free to click on its link below: website All I ask is please leave me a comment. Even to just say "hello" so I know that some people are reading it! Thanks everyone, and I'll talk with you later!! Diane
Post a Comment
Read more

Lessons from Teachers

Many times when people talk about the teachers they have encountered in their schools, usually the lessons have been of the traditional sort.   A teacher has done or said something inspiring that has changed their lives for the better.   Actually, I have had a teacher show a negative trait that was a positive life lesson to me.   She was my seventh grade teacher.   She was a very large woman—she had to make her own clothes to fit her.   Not only was her physique large, but also her personality.   She was a very aggressive and no-nonsense woman.     “You can’t get away with anything in Miss C class!”   was the comment we heard from previous teachers and older students.   When she hosted detention, she made a sign to put on the clock that read: “Time passes—will you?”             Being in her class, she made it very clear that she was the boss.   Now, most of the time, she wa...
1 comment
Read more