Silence, Contraction, Expansion
Let the noise and distraction bleed out of you so you can face the world, rid of its dross, alive in the awareness you have for its deeper truths.
I realised this week, one reason why I love the solitude of late nights and early mornings when everyone else in the house is asleep. I used to think that it was the satisfaction of giving time to the types of disciplines and expressions that let allow me to feel like I'm thriving, growing, creating. But it isn't that alone.
The silence itself is nothing short of an anodyne, laying to rest the cacophony and confusion of the day that preceded it. With seven children in the house, the days are filled with business, noise, laughter and life. Most of it is pleasant, but much of it can be jarring, even if its the quantity or consistency of it that can render it grating on occasion. I must admit, the house is more often than not quite peaceful - more than one would reasonably expect with so many souls under the one roof. But the solitude gives means to create sense and meaning from the madness, the challenges, the deceptively random sense of it all.
The day, and the people we share it with, grant us so much to consider, to adopt, to challenge, ponder or reject. The heart swells to draw in rich, new blood, teeming with life and love, concepts, philosophies and sentiment. The heart expands to capture as much as it possibly can, to draw in every lesson, every grace, to let your body ring out with the urgency of momentum and meaning. The expansion, the absorption, is necessary, but a point of tension, to the point of pain.
The silence is when the heart contracts, to give the body, the mind, the lifeblood it needs. When all its drawn in, spills out in the truth and meaning we can make from it all. The solitude is when the heart expels what its expended; the essence left lifeless, drawn, unnecessary or untrue. In the silence and the solitude we're left with new turns, new expressions, new ways forward. In the silence and solitude we understand the true value, or lack thereof, of the toils and trifles of the day.
It is in this expanse, the beauty of silence, that prayer, art and literature take root in you. Let the heart constrict. Let the noise and distraction bleed out of you so you can face the world, rid of its dross, alive in the awareness you have for its deeper truths. This expanse, found only in those scant moments of peace, of pause.