WHEN SILENT, WE LISTEN

 

“The word ‘Listen’ contains same letters as the word ‘Silent’”

Alfred Brendel

 

Did you know that? That, the word ‘Listen’ contained same letters as the word ‘Silent’?

Well, I did not know that.

But, I know, that only when we are silent, we are able to listen. Robert A. Heinlein dramatically describes this phenomenon when he says, “It was darn quiet; you could hear your hair grow!”

Outside, the Nature is full of sound… Inside, the mind is full of sound! Life, by its very nature, is restless… Noisy. It’s only when we pause, be still… and listen to the life outside and inside, that harmony comes. It’s peace…

It was Bob Dylan who said, “Sometimes, silence can be like thunder.”

What an irony! Bob Dylan’s songs and lyrics are known to take away the sound from the thunders! The poet-singer knows how the thunder and silence come together to make life! Last evening, I was listening to his legendary song – ‘Blowing in the Wind’ – but covered by another amazing singer… Please listen:

 

I was also watching this video of ice-dancing… Ice-dancing is fast, graceful… It is expressive. What I liked the most in this video was the touch of the editor who had put the South Indian masterpiece to infuse more life into the dance on the ice… Go still and behold:

There are a million thoughts crisscrossing in each head… If we put all of them together, we are going to witness a massive explosion! The revelation is this: when we help ourselves to go silent, and listen to everything that goes on, both, outside and inside, we are able to realize how amazing the silence is!

I was watching this unique art form based on Artificial Intelligence (AI):

As I said, neither we are able to command the Nature to be silent, nor we can command our own minds… We can stand aside, be still and watch what’s happening… Then, we are able to listen… hear our hair grow… see the glory in the burning Sun… Feel the gentle touch of the morning dew and the evening breeze… the silence in the thunder and the beauty in the lightening….And, yes, yes, the unmatchable beauty and strength of our joys and sorrows, fears and hopes… In that silence, everything looks connected, meaningful… God makes sense, feels immediate!

Lately, I have been watching these beautiful short films… A young couple seems to have embarked upon a mission of creating these short films with literally no money (Fully crowd-funded) but with a massive heart and a robust vision. Their project is called ‘Green Renaissance’. There are scores of those films… each one not more than ten minutes… But, the more you watch them, the more you will love Nature and life… the more you realize how amazing and powerful silence is… simplicity is! So, I highly recommend you to watch them. Here I share one of them to conclude my today’s Blog…

Yes, go… Dance with Life!

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic’s: pixabay 

Videos: 1. Kina Grannis 2. starthict

               3. WIRED  4. Green Renaissance