This goal is important to me for many reasons. To be peaceful, collect my thoughts, listen to nature, and to happen upon some places I have never been before. By just reading the goal it is easy to think, "wow, that is a lot of time to just sit there." Is it though? I think maybe by the end of this year that this will not be nearly enough time to "just sit there".
There is a lot of noise in the world today. I think that may be one of the reasons that kids cry so often. It scares me to think that silence is not obtainable in some places. New York comes to mind. The city that never sleeps. Maybe eventually someone will think up an idea to put in silence bars. A place where you can pay to go experience "silence." Just sitting here writing this blog I have music playing, my roommate has music playing and there are cars driving by. I turn off the music and I can hear the song of a bird, natures music.
There is a lot of noise in the world today. I think that may be one of the reasons that kids cry so often. It scares me to think that silence is not obtainable in some places. New York comes to mind. The city that never sleeps. Maybe eventually someone will think up an idea to put in silence bars. A place where you can pay to go experience "silence." Just sitting here writing this blog I have music playing, my roommate has music playing and there are cars driving by. I turn off the music and I can hear the song of a bird, natures music.
So just how powerful is silence? Just looking around online I found what a few people think . . .
"While silence between two people is comfortable, you know you have found love."
"Silence and smile are two powerful tools. Smile is the way to solve many problems and silence is the way to avoid many problems."
"Wise souls speak loudly in silence."
"Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything" - John Grossman
All of those things sound so positive. For myself, lately I have been running at night more often. Blacksburg is a ghost town after midnight in the summer. It is not because I am tired but because of how quiet and peaceful it is that I often get the feeling that I just want to walk or even sit. This alone speaks to me of how powerful silence can be. So here is to being a little more quiet for the rest of 2014.
"While silence between two people is comfortable, you know you have found love."
"Silence and smile are two powerful tools. Smile is the way to solve many problems and silence is the way to avoid many problems."
"Wise souls speak loudly in silence."
"Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything" - John Grossman
All of those things sound so positive. For myself, lately I have been running at night more often. Blacksburg is a ghost town after midnight in the summer. It is not because I am tired but because of how quiet and peaceful it is that I often get the feeling that I just want to walk or even sit. This alone speaks to me of how powerful silence can be. So here is to being a little more quiet for the rest of 2014.
End of Week 25 Update
I learned a few things this week about sitting in complete silence. If I had tried doing this when I was a kid I would have finally figured out what all those noises were that I thought were monsters and witches behind my bed. The house can become really really loud when you just sit and listen to it. I also learned that you come to terms with how tired you are very quickly while sitting silent for 15 minutes. I'm going to have to make an attempt at making this an activity for the beginning of the day after waking up sitting on the couch two nights this week.
On the positive side everything is a little bit louder when you are sitting quietly, including your thoughts. It was nice to have time to reflect on the day and make plans for what I would do the next day.
I wanted to say a big thank you to my good friend Rudy for the surprise book I got in the mail. I got a notification from UPS that I had a package on the way and I just couldn't figure out what it was that I ordered. It was the book The Other by David Guterson but sent without a note or receipt! Later in the week he confessed to the surprise gift as he thought it fell perfectly in line with my reading goal and other parts of this years journey. Thank you again, it is now my current read!
End of Week 25 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 89.65 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 308 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $452.89
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 126
Pushups - 1160 Crunches - 1040
Days Flossed - 110 (missed two days)
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 14
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 270
Items planted -12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans, a
bed of mint, 50 Celosia flowers, 7 Red Maple Seeds,
Letters written - 10
Meat eaten - none
Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation,
Deworm the World Initiative, Project Healthy Children, charity: water, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative
Movies watched - 0
Glasses of wine - 0
New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette, Lamb's Quarters Quiche, Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil
and a side of Bean Sprout Salad with Peanut Chili Dressing, Pan Bagnat with grilled peppers and basil vinaigrette and a side of Classic Gougères,
Miles ran - 190.2
Facebook and Twitter time = 0 minutes
Books Read - The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, currently reading The Other by David Guterson
I learned a few things this week about sitting in complete silence. If I had tried doing this when I was a kid I would have finally figured out what all those noises were that I thought were monsters and witches behind my bed. The house can become really really loud when you just sit and listen to it. I also learned that you come to terms with how tired you are very quickly while sitting silent for 15 minutes. I'm going to have to make an attempt at making this an activity for the beginning of the day after waking up sitting on the couch two nights this week.
On the positive side everything is a little bit louder when you are sitting quietly, including your thoughts. It was nice to have time to reflect on the day and make plans for what I would do the next day.
I wanted to say a big thank you to my good friend Rudy for the surprise book I got in the mail. I got a notification from UPS that I had a package on the way and I just couldn't figure out what it was that I ordered. It was the book The Other by David Guterson but sent without a note or receipt! Later in the week he confessed to the surprise gift as he thought it fell perfectly in line with my reading goal and other parts of this years journey. Thank you again, it is now my current read!
End of Week 25 Totals
Soda - 0 ounces
Water - 89.65 Gallons
Liquor - 0 shots
Tea - 308 cups
Trips to unhappy places - Jimmy Johns (1)
$ to support neighbors = $452.89
Fried food consumption - 2 dorito chips
Breakfasts eaten - 126
Pushups - 1160 Crunches - 1040
Days Flossed - 110 (missed two days)
Coffee - 0 cups
Sunrises attended - 14
Beers drunk - 0
Gallons of Trash Collected - 270
Items planted -12 jalapenos, 12 bell peppers, 8 yellow pear tomatoes, 30 canna bulbs, 1 chinese pistache, 30 sensitive plants, 24 carolina reaper peppers, 12 ghost peppers, 31 scorpion peppers, 5 brussel sprouts, 12 tyria hybrid cucumbers, 14 congo watermelons, 6 hybrid prizewinner pumpkins, 45 devils tongue peppers, 14 black sea man tomatoes, 33 peruvian white lightning habaneros, 16 mammoth russian sunflowers, 30 big smile sunflowers, 100 zinnia's, 100 basil plants, 100 green onion plants, 12 chinese lanterns, 30 garden beans, a
bed of mint, 50 Celosia flowers, 7 Red Maple Seeds,
Letters written - 10
Meat eaten - none
Donations made - Bike the US for MS, Personal Mission Trip, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, Against Malaria Foundation,
Deworm the World Initiative, Project Healthy Children, charity: water, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative
Movies watched - 0
Glasses of wine - 0
New dishes cooked - Vegetable Korma, Ukranian Vinaigrette, Lamb's Quarters Quiche, Thai Spicy Eggplant with Sweet Basil
and a side of Bean Sprout Salad with Peanut Chili Dressing, Pan Bagnat with grilled peppers and basil vinaigrette and a side of Classic Gougères,
Miles ran - 190.2
Facebook and Twitter time = 0 minutes
Books Read - The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, currently reading The Other by David Guterson