To Silence

"Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything"

- Gordon Hempton

(Enjoy the multiple ironies of this story)

I heard the quote above early on in my walk today, while listening to the audio version of the book, "How to Do Nothing".

25 minutes or so into my walk (I increased my walk time to 40 min / day at the end of January), it started to lightly rain...or more accurately, it started to do some sort of rain / sleet thing. Instead of being annoyed, I noticed the enticing sound of the rain-sleet falling on the ground - loud enough that I could hear it over the words coming through my headphones.

I started to devote my attention to those gentle patters, then to the birds accompanying those sounds.

It became harder to focus on the book, so I pulled out one earbud to be able to hear the background sounds of nature. Eventually, I hit pause on the audiobook and just found myself stepping in tune to the "silence" around me.

With that quote still echoing in my mind, I realized why I so often do my walks without music or podcasts or audiobooks...and almost always, why I do them alone.

I am deeply fascinated with the presence of everything.

Here's to silence.