December 18 2023

I’ve had the opportunity to spend days in silent retreats. Sometimes I was by myself. At other times, I was with groups of people and I was struck by how profound those experiences were. Instead of talking to others, we engaged with one another by looking into each other’s eyes. It felt very connecting, even more so than speaking aloud and being distracted by thinking about what we were going to say next. In one instance, we were in silence for 24 hours and afterwards we had a dinner together. 

When we started talking at the dinner table, one of my table mates began talking about an uncomfortable topic in a more superficial way – the kind of conversation we often have when discussing current events. The abrupt transition from a deep, peaceful silence to more surface level judging thoughts caused my body to shake. I have found after these retreat experiences that I need to slowly transition back into daily life because it really feels like an abrupt transition for my system. Silence can be a great place to spend meaningful time.