the art of living cheerfully :: ode to silence

by madelyn mulvaney

photo by darlene kreutzer

‘So I went for a walk into the forest in the midst of a
frightening storm ~ it was dark and rainy but I was somewhat sheltered
as the trees are vastly tall and huddle together which offered me a bit
of protection. I wandered off the trails and went deeper still into the tangle
of streams and berry bushes and soft earth darkly, eventually
finding a fallen log beneath a kindly swaying tree and settled on it
(it was so thick with green, green moss, how could I resist?)

Well there I stayed for perhaps two hours with my questioning heart
and yet strangely soothed by the pattering sounds of rain falling on the
leaves all about me (do you know this sound? it is vastly beautiful ~
if you are sleeping in a tent it brings such a sense of profound coziness
exhilleration and peace)

...a long time passed and I am certain i heard the forest whisper "talk to me"
so I spoke my heart's murmurs aloud surrounded by those cathedral of trees
that listened so patiently and with such understanding and eventually
I stood up and walked back through the forest and into a clearing
just as the rain subsided. The sun welcomed me with such a dazzling warmth
and my eyes danced with the sacred faces of all the beaming buttercups.’

Recently I re~read this entry in my journal and felt so hushed, so reverant remembering that walk in the rainy woods so long ago. And I was reminded that happiness can be very quiet ~ perhaps indeed true happiness depends on a ritual of daily silence .

I have a naturally buoyant personality but in order to deeply explore my emotional inner world I take small daily pilgrimages into silence. Perhaps my most favorite are walks into nature, whether it be those glorious cathedral of trees in the forest or a blustery seaswept walk on the beach with my dog. For me nature transcends the beauty of the most ornate palace, the language of nature is more poetic than all my favorite sonnets combined, the song of the midnight peepers more exalting than any symphony.

Consciously including silence in my life is embraced with my whole heart and brings such peace and harmony with my true self. I reconnect with patience, inner beauty, and seeds of wonder as I lie in wait for inspiration to bring back to my art and writing. There is such scope for imagination in the wild world around us!

Often people tell me that they feel so sad when they are along in nature for some reason. I know this feeling as well but once a monk told me in a meditation class that this very lonliness is the ego feeling a loss of individuality. If you lean into that sadness you will soon find a deeper space that fills you up with the nurturing connection and sense of oneness in our world.

There are many other ways I can embrace a little silence in my daily life as well. Visiting an art gallery, reading in a library, resting quietly at home in a candlelit room all bring me this gentle space for meditative reverance. I am infused with such fresh burst of energy, focus and enthusiasm after little forays into silence and truly consider it one of the most generous gifts I can bestow upon myself.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

— Wendell Berry