Greetings to you all in this precious network of women holding a place of silence ~ for ourselves, for the world, and for all our connections ~ visible and invisible, seen and unseen. I am so glad to just send a few of my own reflections this month.
It is hard to believe that is has been a year since we initiated this day of silence. I am thankful that Barbara has taken the lead in sending out a note of connection each month ~~ for me it adds a moment of contact and starts my preparation for the day of practice. Thank you dear friend.
As each month has passed, I notice that I have had to meet many different challenges inside myself: each Saturday it seems like I go through this sort of “mild anxiety” before I go to sleep and then the moment I wake up I feel so grateful. I believe this is because the simple act of doing this on a regular basis means I have to shift “from known to unknown”, from fast to slow, from action to listening.
The biggest challenge for me all year was the one day in June where I had a singing concert on the day of Silence. No matter how I conceived of it, being silent and singing just could not find a way into the same space ~~ and I truly love my local women’s singing group the “Norway Pond Festival Singers” ~~ however just because I could not sing in the concert didn’t mean I could not sing all the days leading up to it. And then when the concert came ~ I just sang inside myself…
For some this may seem “rigid”…why not just do it the next day or just for a few hours “of singing” and then silence the rest of the day. All of which could have been fine too…for me, in the end, it became apparent that this discipline of an actual day dedicated in this way was more important than to sing.
Having said the above, I want to deeply honor the multitude of ways that each one of us connecting with the place of silence inside ourselves ~ whether it is on your way home in the car in that half hour you have to yourself before you step in the door to greet kids and family; or the daily meditation of a walk or sitting or drawing or drinking your morning coffee and day-dreaming. There are a million different ways to stay close to our own unique “wellspring of Being” ~~ may each of us continue to cultivate this place in whatever ways are real and powerful.
I have loved hearing the various ways that different women have taken advantage of this kind of time ~~ such inspiring vignettes that have been posted this last year ~~ and one that was not posted on the site but that I know about, which was my younger sister running a tri-athlon and she did it wearing her “I am practicing a day of Silence” tag! Swimming, running, and biking in silence and listening to her own deep heartbeat ~ how beautiful is this ~
So, as the autumn comes in the north and the spring comes in the south, I am glad to connect with this circle. The invitation for others to join remains, and if you have people you would like to know about our time, just send me a message and I will invite them on your behalf and send them the book “Listening Below the Noise”.
My love to you all,
Peri