The Sounds of Silence

Do you remember double features? At the drive-in? That was how I saw The Graduate and A Man and a Woman, so it was a night for music that helped define a generation. “People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening” was evident in student protests and marches.  “When hearts are passing in the night, in the lonely night” spoke to the complications of relationships. “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls” screamed the inequities that needed attention then and still today remains within the sounds of silence.
 

There were years when the clock radio launched my day with music or news and the click of the remote turned off the TV indicating it was time to go to sleep. In between there was a cacophony. I’ve had relationships where silences were not comfortable so conversations had to continue as long as the relationship did. I’ve learned that some of the most important intimacy we can know comes from silence with those we love, how our connection echoes within the sounds of silence.

Over time I’ve intentionally incorporated more silence into my days. When I was writing my book I used a timer to mark segments of my day. I wrote for 45 minutes, in silence, and then enjoyed 15 minutes of noise and distraction before going back to the 45 minutes of thought and fingers at the keyboard. These days I’m as likely to I put ‘quiet’ on my to-do list as ‘library’ and even may even forget to turn on the music. I live across from the train tracks and the el and freight trains are 24/7. I was surprised at how quickly I adjusted to those sounds. Now hours go by and I haven’t heard them at all but what I have heard are the birds, the wind, the rain.  When I do notice a train, I’m reminded that it is just another part of creation and civilization and glad that they do disturb the sounds of silence.

How do you touch the sounds of silence?

Marilyn