Oh, be quiet

Silence is the true friend that never betrays.  ~ Confucius

I was quiet yesterday.  Not busy.  Not loud.  Not, well, not anything but quiet.

I'm not usually quiet, although I am an introvert by nature. Those two things don't really make sense, but they are true nonetheless.  I was a very shy child and still am quite shy in certain social situations.  I hate crowds or any large group of people where I don't know folks and don't have "my person" to latch onto so that I know I have a guaranteed person to talk to.  I'd much rather stay home and read a book than put myself through the torture of an awkward and unenjoyable social gathering.

Yesterday was different though. I wasn't bypassing anything to seek out my solitude, I just decided to be quiet.  Truth be told, I have been taking a few turns at being "down in the dumps" lately and I was feeling a bit of that yesterday, so maybe that actually did propel me into a quiet day.  It matters not, however, because I needed the quiet for whatever reason and got it.  Demanded it, in fact.  Enjoyed it, most assuredly. 

Silence is a source of great strength.  ~ Lao Tzu

I listened to the rain coming down, softly at times and with the accompaniment of loud, crashing thunder at others. 

I sat on my couch and savored the sound of silence, along with the darkness of a rain storm. 

I took a nap with nothing but the occasional sound of the air conditioner whirring away in the background.

I read a book and really focused and concentrated on it. 

I very deliberately turned the TV off, which I seldom do as I usually like the background noise to go along with the hustle and bustle of whatever I think needs to be hustled and bustled.

I deliberately stayed off of social media (with the exception of a few tweets during the Tony Awards). 

I was quiet.  And I liked it.   And it was really, really good for me.  It's time for me to be quiet more.  I've said all I have to say today.  And that's a good thing.

Not merely an absence of noise, Real Silence begins when a reasonable being withdraws from the noise in order to find peace and order in his inner sanctuary.  ~ Peter Minard