The Sound of Silence

October 2013

Silence is one of the voices of God. But it’s a certain kind of silence. It is not oppression. It is a silence of holy heart and that’s completely different altogether. (Clarissa Pinkola Estes)

My favourite thing to do at the end of the school week is to pack platter food, grab a bottle of wine and walk down to the Swan River to watch the sun set. Most times, my children swim and I sit under a eucalyptus tree, watching the children frolic as the cool breeze shifts clammy strands of hair from my neck. I sweat under my cap. My lumbar spine aches if I don’t shift my seat regularly. I love it.

Sometimes I lie on my back and watch the gum leaves pattern the blue sky in tiny, quivering sections. Sometimes I peel the bark from the tree and am ridiculously thrilled at the texture of the shredded pieces and of the smooth surface underneath. Sometimes I just wait, wiggling my toes in the sun, listening to the sound of silence as the colours change and the heat gently softens.

My children tumble on top of me, scattering river water and making noise. They beg for stories of my childhood; clambering to hear about their aunts and uncles and grandparents when they themselves were young.

Stories unfold in teary smiles; achingly poignant. The telling mystifies my children, wooing them to chase a narrative just beyond their comprehension. Like a wayward wind, they follow with questions tossed and tumbling on a slip of a thought or a remembered moment. They laugh! They trust and ask and dive into their history, unfettered and curious. They give new colour and perspective to stories shut tight in minds holding too tightly to grief and to sorrow and regret.

They begin to tell their own stories in the spaces of silence that open up through listening to each other. Their lives are hilarious and serious and wild and traumatic. They agonise the agonies and cry foul over injustice. They shove each other and hug each other and then race back to the water’s edge.

I watch, smiling and listening to the noise all around and the quiet stillness within.

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Reference: Estes, C.P. ‘Silence is one of the voices of the creator’ accessed October 2013