Listening to Silence

Throughout the course of a normal day we are surrounded by sound.  Alarm clocks, music, conversation, the tapping of keys on our keyboard, it seems at every turn there is something to be listened to and absorbed. 

I went for a run yesterday after work.  I was somewhat in the "zone" having just reached the top of a hill with no pain in my sides, and some very good music blasting through my headphones.  After a quick stretch of the legs I turned to continue on my way, but was stopped in my tracks. 

It was nothing in particular that caught my eye.  Just the sight of seemingly endless rolling hills filled with wheat stalks, and the sun slowly starting to inch closer to the horizon line.  It wasn't a new sight, considering I ran this route at least four times a week, and yet I couldn't help feel a bit overwhelmed.

I hit the pause button on the music.  And I listened.

I listened to nothing and to everything.  I heard complete silence for the first time in a long while.  I could almost feel things slow down, as if a switch had been flipped.  I had never really stopped to think about how much sound surrounded me each day.....it never dawned on me until I was no longer around it.

I suppose there is really no way to escape from sound, especially since there is no such thing as "complete" silence.  And for a lot of us, we need certain elements of sound to make it through the day.  Sometimes silence can cause anxiety to build, and we yearn for any kind of sound to pierce the silence so we can center ourselves again. 

But yesterday the silence was perfection.  It was needed.  It helped provide an all too brief moment of reflection in a day that was nothing but go, go, go. 

And as I continued on my run, hearing the gravel crunch beneath my shoes, I pondered the revival power of spontaneous silent moments.  Coupled with the endorphins, I was feeling the best I had all week. 

Silence.  During the right moments it can alter you in the most wonderful way.