Silence is Golden

I have, in the past few days, been thinking of what to write. My head swims with ideas, so why not write them down on this blog? But often, I want to hold on to them, enjoy their intimacy, fearful of letting them go. They are my secrets, and there is a thrill in keeping them close. In a time and age when everyone writes about everything, when there are no secrets anymore, I find the perversity of not spilling it all quite enchanting.

Verbosity and constant discussion of everything bores me. Being taciturn is considered unfriendly, or worse, spooky. But we forget the lessons we learn from our children. "How was school today?", you ask. "Fine," comes the response. "What did you do?" "Nothing." They know a thing or two about mystery and privacy, about living in their heads and not wanting to be weakened by letting it all out.

What if no one had anything to say for hours and days on end, I wonder? What if everyone, instead of saying whatever was in their heads, held their tongue and thought about it, and thought about it, and thought about, and came to peace with whatever it was, and found sweet salvation in their silence. A mute presence, the better to go inside and really understand what it is all about. An underwater journey, a return to the womb. Talk is cheap. Many things are best left unsaid, at least until the time is ripe. There is power in silence.