Silence,
in my mind,
is like a vast desert spread before me,
sand carved into dunes by the chinook winds
that race through the mountains . . .
those that eat the snow.
Sky is velvet dark
and filled with stars
whose voices are so far away
that I cannot hear them.
I go there often
and am at peace in the stillness,
enveloped by it,
cloaked by it,
breathed by it,
eaten by it,
as the snow evaporates into air.
I feel a part of the vast,
empty space around me,
and free of all longing.
It is where everything else falls away
and I am simply
connected to it all.
Silence
is almost always my friend,
and is a gift in every way.
It soothes and comforts me,
touches my skin like dust
and allows everything.
I can go there almost any time,
at least in spirit
and I find healing for my world weary heart
there.
When my father was dying,
someone brought him a CD
with quiet, Christian choral music on it,
hoping to help him ease the way,
but oddly enough,
my father would have none of it,
and became agitated if it was playing . . .
I think I understand why now. ♥
I have spent most of the day in silence today, with my cat, reading endless powerpoint slides about pediatric nursing. Studying with my cat is nice because she never stays in one place too long. She will come for a pet when she wants one and she will leave when she is done. There is no need to say anything to a cat, but I know when she is happy and when she is not, even if she doesn’t make a sound.
I could really use some silence right about now. As an introvert, regular, daily moments of solitude and silence are really important for my personal mental health. As a single mom, these moments have become increasingly rare! This summer has afforded me even less space for solitude with a continuous flow of visiting family and no child care to speak of. At moments, I feel like I’m going to crack, but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel with the last visitors leaving on Tuesday and school starting back up next week. I think I will celebrate by hiking in the woods all day and trying my best to silence my inner noise as well. Thanks for this question.
Is there any time,
dear Emmaleah,
that you can take time to yourself,
maybe after the children are in bed,
to allow yourself to sit
and simply be?
I know I would crack too,
if I didn’t have access to healing silence.
Sometimes,
simply finding silence within
can help
if you can find it . . .
I hold you in my heart
with love. ((( ♥ )))
I have already made time for quiet reflection & meditation. Sitting quietly on my porch, listening to birdsong, watching the clouds & reading spiritual passages earlier sets me right for the rest of the day. I feel so blessed to have time for the silence, as there was a time I did not. I cherish it. 🙏🏻
Happy Monday All…🕊️🩷
I am fortunate to be working from home today and I have already had a quiet morning. And I am grateful that I get to live in a quiet place. I will make some time to sit outside in contemplating today.
Dedicate time each day to Practice. For me, reading and reflecting on the Word of the Day and the Daily Question help me. Set a time limit, if necessary.
Silence is something that I am coming into. My whole life I have ‘tried’ to be an involved person but am actually an introverted extrovert. As I am maturing the need to ‘fit in’ or people please is leaving and I am embracing that I am enough. Sitting in the quiet, reflecting on things that actually matter, and how life is such a blink of an eye the need to slow down and embrace ‘now’ and the birds, wind, weather, nature, etc. Something that I have a hard time doing however it is something that I know it’s time to do.
For today I am taking the time to do this before I do anything. Enjoying my diffuser and mushroom coffee while listening to the birds outside my window chatting to each other.
I’m realizing that sitting in the stillness and quiet is time to do some of the deep work that being involved in the chaos has allowed me to avoid.
Happy Monday everyone! Today is the first day of the rest of your life 🙂
I’ll start by sharing a meditation from my 2025 journal.
Morning Med October 2025
I listened to a Sounds True “Insights at the edge” interview with journalist David Brooks yesterday. He was discussing his book, “How to Know a Person.” I think the book must be somewhat of an autobiography and I like how he explains things by telling stories.
In the middle of the night when I was struggling with pain, I was reminded of a story Brooks told about Mother Teresa. He said someone was asking her what she did when she had a great concern and she answered, “I pray.”
Then he asked her, “What do you say to God.”.
She said, “Oh, I say nothing. I’m silent.”
“Then what does God say to you? He countered.
“God says nothing. He’s silent, too.”
In Aramaic, the language of Jesus, the word prayer means “Be open.” so I found myself repeating, “Listen to the silence.” I found myself being open and willing in that moment and I was able to fall asleep.
Richard Rohr says that “Prayer is listening to the silence until it silences you, choosing gratitude until you are grateful.” I sometimes have to listen for the silence a long time before my monkey mind settles so since I have commitments this morning, it will be afternoon before I can pause to pray as Mother Teresa and Rohr encourage me to do. What I can do moment by moment is look at everything and everyone through the eyes of Love. That, too, is Rohr and Mother Teresa wisdom!
While I am cleaning house and packing for an adventure I will likely do it all in silence. But I’m sure my brain won’t be silent during that time. I pause for focused silence from time to time.
I attempted to answer before the day got rolling, but now it’s mid day.
To be honest I feel that there is some kind see resistance stirring inside me. A sort of fear like I want to avoid the silent space. It’s a subtle sense of fear sort of lurking under the depths. I don’t want anyone to see it nor do I want to accept it. In fact I know my habits very well. I want to overcome it, overlook it, over power it, conquer it. The last thing I want to do is to allow it to come up- to surface. It’s even got a taste of loneliness/sadness/ longing/ lack of hope of overwhelming hopelessness.
You see I’m use to a social construct that pushes positivity over allowing whatever is present to be seen.
In fact after living in the USA for so long all I can do is fight to push my own agenda and get what I want at any cost. My habits are strong and surrender is not at all easy . I will guide meditation now . Wish me luck dear ones. Hugs 🤗
”It’s even got a taste of loneliness/sadness/ longing/ lack of hope of overwhelming hopelessness.”
I recognize this feeling,
dear Antoinette,
and know it well,
but I have found
that when I let it out
there is always a great relief that comes with it.
Thinking of you
with love . . . ♥
Letting go is the key 🔑! Not pushing through fake positivity or running away. So grateful to have the method to let go when powerful minds come up. Thank you 🤩
Antoinette, I’ve never conquered anything in my life but I’ve accomplished much many times. I don’t think my egoic mind ever totally lets go but I do make progress. I’ve had to surrender the need to be perfect. It’s a hard message to let go of and it still rears its head from time to time. The little girl in me still finds it hard to believe she’s enough and sometimes I just have to pick her up and tell her, All is well.
CAROL ANN,
Thank you 🙏 yes I need to let myself know that I’m good enough and let the rest go. We are already love and loved. It’s time to put down the burden of our minds and let go of suffering. Thanks for helping me reflect . I feel safe here with all of you .
I’m not blaming anyone or anything. I’m taking responsibility for my mind and how I choose to move forward. I choose to let go of fear and aggression. I’m choosing to meditate to recall, reflect and release – truly let go of these negative false minds of illusion.
These minds are false and create many problems. I’m sitting with what is occupying my mind and allowing the universe to wipe it clean. 🧽 thank you 🙏
I woke up early, coffee on the table. No texting, no phone calls, nor music. Just quiet space with my coffee and succulents. Have a wonderful Monday filled with fresh energy, everyone!
I made some when I woke up. Quietly rising to put the coffee on while hubby and the dogs were still sleeping, I did some somatic movements and then sat down for meditation. It is still quiet in the house, minus the early buzzing of the world outside. We live at the intersection of a busy road, and I am looking forward to not hearing muscle mufflers driving by when we move. Not that there won’t be loud cars in Florida, but we will be sure not to live on a busy main road!
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Silence,
in my mind,
is like a vast desert spread before me,
sand carved into dunes by the chinook winds
that race through the mountains . . .
those that eat the snow.
Sky is velvet dark
and filled with stars
whose voices are so far away
that I cannot hear them.
I go there often
and am at peace in the stillness,
enveloped by it,
cloaked by it,
breathed by it,
eaten by it,
as the snow evaporates into air.
I feel a part of the vast,
empty space around me,
and free of all longing.
It is where everything else falls away
and I am simply
connected to it all.
Silence
is almost always my friend,
and is a gift in every way.
It soothes and comforts me,
touches my skin like dust
and allows everything.
I can go there almost any time,
at least in spirit
and I find healing for my world weary heart
there.
When my father was dying,
someone brought him a CD
with quiet, Christian choral music on it,
hoping to help him ease the way,
but oddly enough,
my father would have none of it,
and became agitated if it was playing . . .
I think I understand why now. ♥
They even have a word for the winds that eat the snow, dear Sparrow. Sublimation. Your words sound better, rolling off the tongue!
I have spent most of the day in silence today, with my cat, reading endless powerpoint slides about pediatric nursing. Studying with my cat is nice because she never stays in one place too long. She will come for a pet when she wants one and she will leave when she is done. There is no need to say anything to a cat, but I know when she is happy and when she is not, even if she doesn’t make a sound.
I could really use some silence right about now. As an introvert, regular, daily moments of solitude and silence are really important for my personal mental health. As a single mom, these moments have become increasingly rare! This summer has afforded me even less space for solitude with a continuous flow of visiting family and no child care to speak of. At moments, I feel like I’m going to crack, but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel with the last visitors leaving on Tuesday and school starting back up next week. I think I will celebrate by hiking in the woods all day and trying my best to silence my inner noise as well. Thanks for this question.
❤️
Is there any time,
dear Emmaleah,
that you can take time to yourself,
maybe after the children are in bed,
to allow yourself to sit
and simply be?
I know I would crack too,
if I didn’t have access to healing silence.
Sometimes,
simply finding silence within
can help
if you can find it . . .
I hold you in my heart
with love. ((( ♥ )))
Thank you, Sparrow 😊
I have already made time for quiet reflection & meditation. Sitting quietly on my porch, listening to birdsong, watching the clouds & reading spiritual passages earlier sets me right for the rest of the day. I feel so blessed to have time for the silence, as there was a time I did not. I cherish it. 🙏🏻
Happy Monday All…🕊️🩷
I am fortunate to be working from home today and I have already had a quiet morning. And I am grateful that I get to live in a quiet place. I will make some time to sit outside in contemplating today.
I too,
live in a relatively quite space,
dear Charlie,
away from the city sounds . . .
what a joy that is. ♥
Dedicate time each day to Practice. For me, reading and reflecting on the Word of the Day and the Daily Question help me. Set a time limit, if necessary.
Silence is something that I am coming into. My whole life I have ‘tried’ to be an involved person but am actually an introverted extrovert. As I am maturing the need to ‘fit in’ or people please is leaving and I am embracing that I am enough. Sitting in the quiet, reflecting on things that actually matter, and how life is such a blink of an eye the need to slow down and embrace ‘now’ and the birds, wind, weather, nature, etc. Something that I have a hard time doing however it is something that I know it’s time to do.
For today I am taking the time to do this before I do anything. Enjoying my diffuser and mushroom coffee while listening to the birds outside my window chatting to each other.
I’m realizing that sitting in the stillness and quiet is time to do some of the deep work that being involved in the chaos has allowed me to avoid.
Happy Monday everyone! Today is the first day of the rest of your life 🙂
🌞
I’ll start by sharing a meditation from my 2025 journal.
Morning Med October 2025
I listened to a Sounds True “Insights at the edge” interview with journalist David Brooks yesterday. He was discussing his book, “How to Know a Person.” I think the book must be somewhat of an autobiography and I like how he explains things by telling stories.
In the middle of the night when I was struggling with pain, I was reminded of a story Brooks told about Mother Teresa. He said someone was asking her what she did when she had a great concern and she answered, “I pray.”
Then he asked her, “What do you say to God.”.
She said, “Oh, I say nothing. I’m silent.”
“Then what does God say to you? He countered.
“God says nothing. He’s silent, too.”
In Aramaic, the language of Jesus, the word prayer means “Be open.” so I found myself repeating, “Listen to the silence.” I found myself being open and willing in that moment and I was able to fall asleep.
Richard Rohr says that “Prayer is listening to the silence until it silences you, choosing gratitude until you are grateful.” I sometimes have to listen for the silence a long time before my monkey mind settles so since I have commitments this morning, it will be afternoon before I can pause to pray as Mother Teresa and Rohr encourage me to do. What I can do moment by moment is look at everything and everyone through the eyes of Love. That, too, is Rohr and Mother Teresa wisdom!
Thank you, Carol Ann. Another take on quelling that damn monkey, whom I know so well.
“Prayer is listening to the silence until it silences you,
choosing gratitude until you are grateful.”
I feel my heart rate slow down
and my blood pressure drop
when I read these lines,
dear Carol Ann . . .
thank you. ♥
Thank you for sharing this. Such a ‘simple’ yet super insightful reminder that sometimes noise isn’t necessary at all!
While I am cleaning house and packing for an adventure I will likely do it all in silence. But I’m sure my brain won’t be silent during that time. I pause for focused silence from time to time.
I have the gift of space and silence now as I answer this question.
My life is surrounded by quiet and silent times. My challenge is to quiet my mind in the midst of confusion.
I attempted to answer before the day got rolling, but now it’s mid day.
To be honest I feel that there is some kind see resistance stirring inside me. A sort of fear like I want to avoid the silent space. It’s a subtle sense of fear sort of lurking under the depths. I don’t want anyone to see it nor do I want to accept it. In fact I know my habits very well. I want to overcome it, overlook it, over power it, conquer it. The last thing I want to do is to allow it to come up- to surface. It’s even got a taste of loneliness/sadness/ longing/ lack of hope of overwhelming hopelessness.
You see I’m use to a social construct that pushes positivity over allowing whatever is present to be seen.
In fact after living in the USA for so long all I can do is fight to push my own agenda and get what I want at any cost. My habits are strong and surrender is not at all easy . I will guide meditation now . Wish me luck dear ones. Hugs 🤗
Hugs and calmness for you, Antoinette.
”It’s even got a taste of loneliness/sadness/ longing/ lack of hope of overwhelming hopelessness.”
I recognize this feeling,
dear Antoinette,
and know it well,
but I have found
that when I let it out
there is always a great relief that comes with it.
Thinking of you
with love . . . ♥
Letting go is the key 🔑! Not pushing through fake positivity or running away. So grateful to have the method to let go when powerful minds come up. Thank you 🤩
Antoinette, I’ve never conquered anything in my life but I’ve accomplished much many times. I don’t think my egoic mind ever totally lets go but I do make progress. I’ve had to surrender the need to be perfect. It’s a hard message to let go of and it still rears its head from time to time. The little girl in me still finds it hard to believe she’s enough and sometimes I just have to pick her up and tell her, All is well.
CAROL ANN,
Thank you 🙏 yes I need to let myself know that I’m good enough and let the rest go. We are already love and loved. It’s time to put down the burden of our minds and let go of suffering. Thanks for helping me reflect . I feel safe here with all of you .
I feel safe here, too, Antoinette
Wishing you best of luck, Antoinette. An individualistic culture like the US is competitive. We learn to go great lengths to get our way.
I’m not blaming anyone or anything. I’m taking responsibility for my mind and how I choose to move forward. I choose to let go of fear and aggression. I’m choosing to meditate to recall, reflect and release – truly let go of these negative false minds of illusion.
These minds are false and create many problems. I’m sitting with what is occupying my mind and allowing the universe to wipe it clean. 🧽 thank you 🙏
I’m making space right now. Taking time to feel the stillness.
I woke up early, coffee on the table. No texting, no phone calls, nor music. Just quiet space with my coffee and succulents. Have a wonderful Monday filled with fresh energy, everyone!
My Ngoc, good time for that.
I made some when I woke up. Quietly rising to put the coffee on while hubby and the dogs were still sleeping, I did some somatic movements and then sat down for meditation. It is still quiet in the house, minus the early buzzing of the world outside. We live at the intersection of a busy road, and I am looking forward to not hearing muscle mufflers driving by when we move. Not that there won’t be loud cars in Florida, but we will be sure not to live on a busy main road!