SILENCE IS HOME OF THE WORD
Dan Holden
President, Daniel Holden Associates, Co-Founder, ESPíRITU— SPIRITUAL HEALING WITH HORSES. Co-founder, VETERANS EQUINE ALLIANCE— Horses & Veterans: Common Ground, Extraordinary Journey
Espíritu
Veterans Equine Alliance
THE HORSE GUY
COACHING WITH HORSES
STORY #185
SILENCE IS HOME OF THE WORD
Observations from the horse pasture
“The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a person who has forgotten words? Such is one I would like to talk to.” (From,The Way of the Heart, by Henri Nowen)
It is election year in the USA. The media seem eager to offer candidates of all parties unlimited airtime. It is a noisy season where so much time and attention is paid to those with so little to say. In the midst of all of this mouth activity there are moments of quiet kindness, many moments that otherwise could go unnoticed. The teller at the bank who smiles, calls me by name and knows exactly what I need. The driver pulling aside, allowing me to pass on a narrow city street. A child smiles at me in the parking lot as she walks by with her father. A neighbor I haven’t met waving and saying, “Hi”. A friend going out of his way to create a finished, read-to-use ad I had simply asked his input on. One of our horses, out deep in pasture, turns to lock eyes on us when we pull in for a visit. Our dog, Zeus, napping next to me with a ball next to his nose. Small, silent moments that make a difference.
We seldom know what others are carrying when we meet them.
In her poem, For The Sake of Strangers, Dorianne Laux writes about how these quiet moments matter to those of us touched by them —
“…Somehow they always find me, seem even
to be waiting,? determined to keep me
from myself, from the thing that calls to me
as it once must have called to them —
this temptation to step off the edge
and fall weightless, away from the world.”
I often feel surprised by how nourishing these moments are for me. Perhaps it is the normal weight of concerns and hopes we each carry through ordinary days. Some days, though, as I take in the world around me a despair settles in me. I notice it because it is unusual for me to feel it. It cuts through the noise of the world. Because I allow it in myself I can see it in others who come to visit us at the horse farm. I train myself to pay attention to these silent moments where we pass one another.
Our time with clients and our horses strike me as unusually quiet. There is a conversation that unfolds that does not require words. The horses don’t have them and we humans know enough to realize we are in a land beyond ideas, beyond words. We know to keep quiet and experience the moment. The words will come soon enough but only after the heart has had its way with us.
We offer half-day, one day, and multi-day experiences with our equine coaches. No fee for military vets and their families. Try not to spend much time figuring out whether this is something for you. It’s a bit like standing outside a restaurant and figuring out the menu. Come in. Eat. Silence is home for the word. Silence is also where the heart is nurtured and the future is born. Step aside from the noise of the day and enter another, silent world. Afterwards, you’ll know if it was something for you.
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