The Empty Room

By Larry Tyler

The empty room is silent the only noise is the creaking of the chair as I move to pick up a tin container. It is an old tin with a Norman Rockwell painting on the lid. The one of a boy and his dog. Inside I find some marbles, baseball cards, an old black and white school photo and a check yes or no love letter. I feel like I am eavesdropping on these moments in time and the stories that still live here.

It is peaceful here, the sunlight warm and comforting. A breeze is blowing through the open windows and an array of scattered items seems to be speaking to me, asking me to touch them and feel their story. I can sit here quietly and enjoy the things left behind. I wonder if we all had an empty room to sit quietly in, to feel the warm sun on our face, would we be at peace.

I wonder if that time in an empty room would quiet the noise we find in our daily life. We seem to fear the quiet, the empty room. Maybe we embrace the road to success passionately fearing it might slip away. The journey, while filled with excitement, the rush of accomplishment and adventure, also has quiet places where we look within and embrace the peace and calm. Is it success or the empty room that we are more afraid of?

I use the empty room as an example of the duality of life. So much of our life is filled with attempting to lift ourselves up in life. We strive to be successful, we help others on their journey and we get involved in the community and give of our time and knowledge.

It seems imperative for our ability to sustain this drive that we also find a moment to sit quietly and feel the serenity and calm. We need at times to stop and reflect. We find the strength to climb mountains from our ability to sit quietly in an empty room.