----
Silence is one of the most complex words in the English language. Or any language. It can mean peace. Acceptance. Anger. Understanding. Acquiescence. Disapproval. Separation. Refusal. Hate. Love. Disregard. Thought. Concentration. Punishment. And even cruelty.
To be silent in a judicial sense, for example, is said to mean consent. Which is far too simplistic a definition, even when restricting it to the law. The cause could also be fear of retribution or a lack of understanding regarding what the person had just seen.
There was also simple disregard for the perpetrator's victim, since some people just plain did not care about others. So while Silence equals consent made for a catchy phrase used to disparage inaction, to be sure, it was also limited and incomplete.
As for silence in a relationship? That is often seen as evidence the bond between two individuals is broken. Though it could also show two individuals had become so comfortable, together, they had no need for speech.
There was also the notion that someone might be focusing very hard on a project or a book, to the extent that all other forms of communication were filtered out.
The latter is the definition Simon preferred. Silence as a gentle blanket enveloping him in peace and safety. He had always sought it, but of late had learned the easiest way to achieve it was to let it come to him. Usually, while reading late in the evening and lazing in his overstuffed recliner with a glass of wine.
He had also found it at the end of a furious thunderstorm, which would initially declare its presence for all the world to see but now was whispering like a lazy feline in need of a light caress. He would sit on his back balcony, under an awning that still dripped from the rain, the moisture remaining thick in the air as he sipped a cup of hot tea and soaked in the joy the world seemed to feel.
Then there were occasions where he could achieve that level of Zen, for lack of a better word, while listening to music. Easy tones drifting melodiously. No words. Nothing brash or demanding. Liquid Mind. Deuter. New Age in a classical style.
During those moments, he cared nothing for the world and its billions of issues. His eyes would close and in the darkness everything would be reborn...would renew...would regain its meaning. His mind would not drift beyond the immediate sense of quiet he felt as life realigned itself within him.
A funny thing to learn in your seventy-third year.
No comments:
Post a Comment