Quiet Much?

I went to Amsterdam on a second date.

I did.?

The gentleman and I met on a Friday evening, met for brunch on Saturday morning, and he sent me a round trip ticket that afternoon. The rest of that story is for another day. The part I want to focus on is this:

As soon as he walked into a new hotel room, my friend turned the television on. Two or three hotel rooms in he noticed, I suppose, that a) there was nothing on other than live ABBA concerts and b) I didn’t seem to pay attention to the television. He asked me if I watched television and I said, no, that I preferred quiet. He said he would try that so, when we arrived at our next lodging, he did not turn the television on.?

After about an hour he said, “You really can think when it’s quiet, can’t you?”

I said, “Yes.”

In terms of getting in touch with the fullness of your Being, you can’t do it until and unless you have time in the quiet.?

And some forms of quiet are better than others. If you have other people around, the only kind of quiet that will really nourish your wholeness is meditation, because this kind of quiet has boundaries.

These boundaries, things like asking to be uninterrupted, keeping sounds low, and maybe even having the luxury of a closed door between you and others, are actually a substitute for being alone. Another way to say this is that if you are alone in quiet, and you can find the spaciousness that quiet can provide, you may not need to meditate as much as you would if you have others present with you.

Empathy

This is because, as empathic humans, we attune to the people around us. We do a kind of mental-emotional-physical pinging to make sure they are all right. Our empathic nature makes us alert to their needs. This is why being around others can be exhausting for some of us—and, at the very least, a distraction for some of the rest of us.

If you aren’t used to it, silence can be unnerving. That’s all right. You can get used to it. Meditation—especially guided visualization—might be a help. Quiet aloneness might not be enough for you without meditation. And meditation might not be enough for you without some quiet aloneness.?

Try both. And enjoy the peace that comes with quiet.

For a guided visualization, go to my website and experience a guided visualization. You can give me your email address—or not. Enjoy the experience!?

Or attend my guided visualization on the first Thursay of the month at noon MST. The next one is February 4.