Appreciating Silence

Appreciating Silence

While lying in shavasana at the conclusions of this evening’s yoga practice while the music was still playing fairly loudly, I was meditating on the beauty of silence. As one who has learned to appreciate just being in the moment, I’ve come to love absolute silence with the exception of whatever natural sounds are brought to me by Mother Nature.

My husband loves background noise. When he is home He always has either the TV blaring or music playing on DirecTV or the computer or the CD player. But when I am home alone, I generally leave it all off (with the exception of Jeopardy or Homeland).

I love the beauty of silence as I watch the fire burning in the fireplace, the birds at the feeder, the sunrise or sunset, the ice covered trees in the winter, flowers bursting with a kaleidoscope of color in the spring.  I can revel in the silence of an evening when the rain is falling with the fresh smell of the dampness in the air. When I indulge in reading with a cat curled up next to my shoulder or hip, I appreciate the silence of all but the gentle purring of the animal next to me.

One of the great benefits of living in the country is the quiet at night. Where we live there are no sounds of highways, no whistle of tractor trailers, no ambient sounds of city noise, voices, church bells, revving motors, or sirens piercing the night. Instead, I have the pleasure of the sounds of my husband's breath, the occasional bullfrog or owl.

The more I’ve experienced the beauty of silence around me the more I appreciate it, crave it, and indulge in it when the opportunity presents itself. And because it is so rare, it is all the more precious.