spoken silence

Years ago I read and collected a New York Times essay on the "eloquence of silence." It was one of the best I had read. It marked me as I espoused the philosophy.

Paul Simon (& Art Garfunkel) have long sang about the the "words of silence." I love that song and agree with the lyrics.

As for me, my vulnerabilities are more conspicous as I get older. I used to be quiet. Beyond my demeanor, I purported and perfected the silent treatment. I could go for weeks in silence. Beyond the monastry practice, I do silence for spite and could go weeks not speaking or in selectively conversation where certain topics are never mentioned and/or ignored when they surface within close relationships. I have witnessed the power of silence to speak succintly to my intentions and the targetted discussions.

Hitherto, I am now tending towards silence. It is a battle in itself to choose not to speak when there is so much to say; there is so much to say and more. I am not going on a silent fasting; I am not going to stop speaking. All I will do is to say less. This is only an effort to allow my intentions to be known while letting my actions speak much more. "Intentions speak but actions even much more", quote me if you intend to say less. I hope I could listen more as I say less. My hope is that I will do more.

For now, my endeavor is to say less. I am not sure how much how that spills over to the written words but we will find out soon.

"... the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls ..."

• WORDS
• PROPHETS
• SUBWAY WALLS

all plural, less spoken - it is written - more should be done.

In conclusions, lots use the phrase "... when it is all said and done ... " unfortunately the real conclusion is dire because when it is really all said and done, a lot more is said than done.