Silence...

Silence can mean peace to some, confusion to others, and maybe even guilt to a few. To me, there is no greater power than silence; of course, it can do great harm and good. Perhaps, that’s why it has a bad reputation in the English dictionary. 

In such a turbulent world, there’s hardly anything that’s just… quiet anymore, and before you say anything, a library isn’t as quiet as the nursery rhymes make it seem. Even inanimate objects have voices of their own now!

But I guess the loudest thing of all is a human. There’s just so much to put a name to, and, oh, so much to get done! 

“We only have one life,” they say. When something doesn’t go as planned, we do whatever it takes just to recover from it. That stress makes us forget that there are times when the best thing to do is…. nothing; let your silence fight instead of your actions.

Hi! Welcome back! I’ve had a loud and hectic week. You know, I’m surprised I woke up at all today instead of staying in bed binge-watching a show. I’ve been jumping from one problem to the next the entire week, trying to get things in as much order as possible. So, being the fifteen-year-old baby I am, I started thinking about the one thing I never have or do: silence. Being silent or not having enough silence in my life never impacted me, until I started thinking about exactly what it does….

Silence is much more powerful than we think. It can give the perfect response when words fail, can give value to someone or something, and it can even make you see things that most others wouldn’t care about or notice, whether it be about others or yourself. Of course, power is subjective. It can morph into something tangible enough to harm or become something close to a life source. Silence is precisely that.

Think of it this way: if you try to speak a hundred words a minute and pour your thoughts into the world every second to show your worth, there might not be anyone who actually listens after a certain time. Yet, don’t speak, and people will start to ask willingly. It’s weird to think about since it’s the last thing we would consider doing.

So, I decided to test it. For a whole day, I tried not to say a single word, text, or call unless I was asked a question or it was important. I’m one of those people who are the biggest introverts around strangers but become an extrovert around my friends and family. So I thought it would be difficult to stay quiet for a while.

Looking back, it wasn’t hard at all. It was interesting to see how different my friends are and how little I notice about them. I’ve heard that you can tell the personality of someone just by looking at their behavior and body language, and I’ve never accepted that (never judge a book by its cover)! But considering that I know my friends, I was surprised to find out exactly how much I don’t know about them! One of them bites their lip when they are angry or want to say something they know they shouldn’t, one tends to end a conversation without making a single contribution, and another’s ears turn red when someone asks a question. It wowed me that I didn’t notice these things at all in the many years I’ve known them. But that’s not the only thing that surprised me. The times that I did speak, entire conversations just stopped to hear what I had to say. Even my teachers in classes where I usually answer many questions started to ask for my input personally. When I gave the simplest, most common answer, it felt like I was getting more attention than usual. I guess the silence in between really gave value to my thoughts; whereas when I regularly speak out, people listen and then move on.

That day, I started to see things differently. The things we assume are the most unreliable and simple, like quiet and silence, turn out to be the most difficult and eye-opening. My mom used to tell me that no one would listen or give you a chance if you didn’t give them a reason to even consider. I didn’t exactly know what that meant. I mean I always thought that it meant to fight for the things that I believe and deserve. But now that I think of it, maybe it means to save your talents and let the silence and space between every word you say show people exactly how much each thought of yours is worth…

Let your silence be your most feared weapon…

“In Silence there is eloquence. Stop weaving and see how the pattern improves.” 

• Rumi