Twenty-first century life is frenetic, chaotic and full of hustle and bustle. It can be so hard to find truly ‘quiet moments’ without the mobile (cell) phone buzzing, an email pinging into the inbox, things to buy, people to meet, work to do, life to live and jobs to complete! It is all too easy to become caught up in the cycle of busy-ness that seems to encapsulate living in the modern world. Once caught up, we can become prisoners of our own making, for we just have to keep on keeping on, so we can keep on keeping on!
We have become finger snappingly demanding, expecting things to happen instantaneously so we can keep on keeping on. An email that takes a whole day to be answered now feels like we are being ignored, or a vibrating mobile phone just ‘has’ to be answered even if we are trying to rest, eat or live life. We may prefer to text rather than use our voices as it involves less ‘energy’ and time, and it makes sharing difficult things appear easier to handle.
Yet, on so many levels we are seeking quiet, peace and tranquillity, we want a simpler but more fulfilling life; a life where all of our needs are met. But with the chaos all around, it is so hard to find even a gap between it all in order to rest, reflect and re-focus.
Of course, the more we buy into the chaos, the more it consumes and controls us. For once we do take a step back, we realise just how easy it is to get carried along by the currents that consume so many around us; we lose ourselves, and begin to accept the expectations of the many. We join the finger snapping club and don’t even question it.
However, there comes a time when we realise that we have a choice; we sense that living in a chaotic and frenetic world does not have to be the only way. Whilst the world has unquestionably become smaller with the use of technology, and we can feel blessed that we can connect with others from across the globe, there is a need for balance; and this balance comes from the sound of silence.
If we take a moment to connect to the silence; to step into the gap between the noise and the fast pace of life, we can begin to find a deeper and a truer sense of direction, purpose and knowing; for it is the silence that helps us to connect to the fullness of our Divinity and to the fullness of our potential.
So, where can we find this silence? It is hidden in the early morning mists in the hollow valley, and it is tucked away at the heart of the forest where we hear the breath of the trees. The silence is carried along in the breeze on a long hot summer’s day, and it is floating on the gentle lapping of the waves on the shoreline. The silence can be found in the still calm of the ocean before the storm comes, and it can be felt in the air on the peak of the mountain. The silence can even be found in the birdsong in the city park and in the lull in coffee shop chatter. The silence is everywhere, and it is all around us, all we need to do is look.
It is in the silence that the answers come and where we can begin to reconnect to our Truth, purpose and essence. The frenetic world no longer defines us, and even though we are still very much a conscious part of the world, we are no longer driven by chaos and finger-snapping, table tapping expectation. Instead, we are more balanced and at One with both ourselves, the world and the Universe...
