The Power of Silence

I was silent last week. After the dramatic events which took place on center stage in our nations capital I could not find words. So I remained silent.

Too bad most of the rest of the world did not. The noise being generated in the aftermath of something which most citizens found unfathomable was, and still is, deafening. It is distracting and like solvent soaked fuel is burning an even bigger gaping wound in our society.

Silence. The complete absence of sound. Quiet. No noise. Also to remain without speech to be silent.

We need both right now. We need to turn off the noise and to shut our mouths.

So that we can hear and so we can listen. There is so much to absorb, so many stories, feelings, and beliefs. So much pain the sound of it is excruciating. This pain is real, it goes to our very core, and has resulted in a combined screech of horror which is ringing world wide.

In this we can be unified. In the pain and in the trauma. This noise is being held in the body and will be held in the collective genetic footprint for generations to come. It is not going to go away any time soon and should not be ignored…no, it must be heard.

So back to silence. See if you can use this tool to bring some balance into your own body as well as remain without speech long enough to hear. Maybe rather than focusing on the narrative and the beliefs we can focus on the pain. Hear the pain coming from all directions. Feel it, see it, acknowledge it and find compassion for it behind the noise.

From this place we can regain our speech. We can find the words necessary to lift up the oppressed and to silence the oppressors. We do have a communal responsibility to not remain silent where our silence has perpetuated harm. No longer can we reap the benefits of the status quo when it marginalizes and abuses others who perhaps do not look or think like us.

Our collective silence has power and it has wielded this power for far too long. It has hurt and relegated much of humanity to lives we cannot comprehend in their fear and desperation. It has not been an even playing field, and for that, we can no longer be silent.

The power of silence…it’s a two headed coin. We need silence to regulate the nervous system to find balance and ease as well as to hear and deeply listen with compassion and love. But on the flip side, the power of remaining silent while bearing witness to injustices, has proven disastrous and deadly. Continuing to skip along the merry path of privilege in silence is reckless. It is causing a harmful wave of selfishness which is proving to destroy communities and lives.

We are drowning in a tidal wave of egocentrism. We must be silent long enough to hear the screams and brave enough to speak up and open our hearts to change. Cause it’s coming…this is a wave that cannot be silenced.