Sunday musings

I was recently sent a mail from Brett Shuttleworth about the power of silence.  With the heading “Be quiet now”, with some thought provoking sentences explaining how everything is created out of silence. To quote “See how nature – trees, grass, grows in silence. See the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.”

Some of the lyrics of the Simon and Garfunkel song ‘The Sounds of Silence”, immediately sprang to mind –  “people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening, people writing songs that voices never heard – no one dared to disturb the sound of silence. Silence like a cancer grows – my words like silent raindrops fell.”

Putting the two messages together makes so much sense about the world we are currently living in, where we are bombarded by noise. Noise of our own minds, noise of life, of social media, of angry people whom seem to make the loudest noise.  But how do we go about quietening it all. Especially our own internal critic.  A few years back when I was going through my own form of living hell, where my personal critic was screaming at me I was advised to read the book, “The Four Agreements” by Don Migual Ruiz.  Here it is suggested that all you need to find happiness is to live by the four agreements. Be impeccable with your word, Don’t take things personally, Don’t make assumptions and Always do your best. And it is these agreements that have now formed mantras in my mind.

The first agreement is the one pertinent to this post. Be impeccable with your word. This pertains not just to or about other people, but also to yourself.  Stop that inner critic, love yourself and still that internal noise. As Brett says just “Be Quiet Now” let yourself grow, embrace the silence.

“Silence is a source of Great Strength.”
― Lao Tzu