In the silence the mind stirs

One of my favourite pieces of writing is Desiderata whose opening line “Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence” is one that resonates with me; but is also one that I easily forget to employ. There is very rarely silence in my world, I usually have the TV on or music playing because for some reason, peace is normally something unsettling to me because silence usually is too peaceful and I go to sleep. Oh the joys of having sleep apnoea! It frustrates me beyond imagining especially when I am attempting to read a good book. It is like when my mind is content it goes into sleep mode, no matter how much I want to stay awake.  However over the last few days I have realised that there is something else hiding in that silence… Ideas, snippets of stories and worlds that I had thought deserted me, my muse hiding in the shadows like a shy friend, whispering poetry and other ideas in my ear but drowned out by the noise of life.

So now I am trying very hard to grab snippets of silence, as much as I can muster without the threat of sleep veiling my mind. If I go to bed that little bit earlier, but rather than pick up my phone to play a game or two or even my book, I am picking up my note book instead. Saying to myself “Right muse I’m listening” And over the last few days it seems to be working. I am tempting my muse out of the shadows and back into the light. I wrote a whole paragraph for a novel which I am attempting to edit in preparation for publication which will be perfect and I find myself wondering if I’d have shut off the noise earlier how much more would I have written?

So my advice today, is remember the words of desiderata..”Remember what peace there may be in silence” and perhaps you will discover a voice that is desperate to be heard.