A crisp cold campervan morning greets me as I step out the door. A thinning frost, hint of mist, breath on air and cold fingers and face. Heavy white cloud lying flat and heavy above. The wind direction or atmospherics have changed, there is just a cacophony of extraneous modern racket in the air. Just noise seeping into everything. Planes overhead, a far off motorway and closer somewhat busier traffic sounds. Nature trying to carve out its place. A few starlings in the ash, a couple of blackbirds dart here and there around the oak and its surroundings. A Robin flits in and out. There is plenty of birdsong about, but it’s struggling this morning. There is pull in me to get on the road again, the desire for silence, stillness and landscapes. Rumi wrote that ;
“ In Silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving and see how the pattern improves.”
Harpocrates was the god of silence in the Hellenistic religion. The world is losing its silence. The encroachment of mankind into all areas of the world means that the spaces where silence can be found is becoming rarer and rarer. The main culprit being aeroplane noise. There is evidence that noise pollution impacts on mental and physical health, people’s ability to rest, focus and learn, it is connected to over 12,000 premature deaths and an increase in heart disease. It impacts hugely on peoples quality of life. It also interferes with nature, wild life and biological cycles. Our connection to silence is being lost or perhaps has been lost. There are very few areas of the world where true silence can be experienced. Silence when experienced as best we can feels like a gift, a recharge and an opportunity to be. It has taken me many years to enjoy silence ( Well the best we can experience ), both alone and in company, to be still and not busy and be comfortable with that too. To appreciate stillness and silence. Lovely days people.
“I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams...” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
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