Deafening silence !

Don’t you often wish that all the noise from around you, as well as from inside of you, would stop for a moment? That you could be in harmony with yourself. To just have nothing on your mind for a minute. Is there such a thing?

For one, psychology indicates that this works differently for woman than it does for man. But I know that man can wholeheartedly enjoy it. However, a certain ambiance is an absolute must. It is not possible to achieve such a ‘state of silence’ at your workplace, at the coffee-corner, or at similar locations. In ordinary life it is all too much about you, there are simply too many incentives, and what to think of the wide range of responsibilities...

Hence the initiative ‘Lifetime Expeditions’, a group that organizes dessert-expeditions. My thoughts dwell back to a couple of weeks ago, and how I, together with Wouter Droppers (CMBC director) and a great group of other entrepreneurs and business people, have wandered through the desert. For sure, an ambiance that provides you with plenty moments of utter silence, and excellent opportunities to truly hear and experience silence!

But what does silence actually imply? What is inner-peace? Anselm Grün calls it ‘the healing place for your thinking’. A journey inwards, keeping silent, finding a resting-place. Coming to a hold for a moment to see what thoughts might pop up. This could actually be rather unpleasant thoughts for our emotions too, like anger, disappointment, the idea that you don’t really live but merely are in the expectation of living, futility, or even some fear.

Silence requires endurance. But men only really comes to himself when he and his surroundings are silenced. Resting your mind and your thoughts, and using your senses to truly hear, see, smell, and feel. Where the spirit and the soul find each other, truth rises in you. You stop concentrating on ‘thinking’ but more on the secret of ‘being’. This process eventually helps you to get familiar with silence.

Sure, it might seem to be a luxury-problem. But as we returned home from the desert we were all agreeing that this experience definitely is something everyone should experience at some point in their life. Silence is just really calming, enlightening and (even though you are in the desert) it is quite refreshing!

Jolanda Oosterom

Coach/trainer xpand

Fellow initiator of ‘Lifetime Expeditions’