I love snow.
I love how a good cover of snow
can transform things ugly and unsightly
into things all glittery, twinkly and shiny.
I love how snow dampens and softens
sharp, screechy and jarring sounds.
I love the fact that each snowflake
is a piece of art and utterly unique.
Of this I am reminded every year when
summer comes around here in OZ(Australia).
Summer, when the heat is suffocating and sweat
pours from virtually every orifice on my
body.
Long nights twisting and turning in my bed
in my un-air-conditioned bedroom, I search
my memory ''files'' for images of snow
clad landscapes and skating ice covered lakes.
Since it is never going to snow here where
I am, I comfort myself by creating
my own snow covered landscapes.
Although it is years since I skied down a mountain
or skated across a mirror glazed lake, I miss snow.
Especially the ''soundscape'' that it creates when it
drapes nature in its shiny new coat.
*
For me, life is about ''commas and
question marks'' rather than ''answers and full stops''.
Commas and question marks keeps possibilities,
probabilities and plausibility's feasible.
Hence, I'm never without a question about
something.
Here is one: Is silently and quietly the same thing?
Sort of? A bit? Yes? No?
I have heard/read of people being described as ''quiet
kind of people'' or ''he/she/they go about their life
in a quiet way'' or ''he/she/they live quietly.''
Can the same be said using the word silently?
Embracing the fact that words are often ambiguous
what do we mean with the word ''silently''?
Quietly, to my way of thinking includes a level of sound.
We can act quietly and we can whisper, speak, cry,
laugh, sneeze, etc. etc. etc. quietly.
We can not do those things silently.
Silently, is the word we use when we talk about
an absence of sound.
Some of us may be predominately extroverted
in nature and enjoy lively conversations
with people, friends and acquaintances.
For us, interacting and communicating/talking
feels comfortable and exciting, it energizes
us (one may say).
Some of us may be predominately introverted
in nature and enjoy times of solitude and
introspection.
For us, silence and or quietude is something
we seek at times because it energizes us.
As we learn more and more about ourselves,
what once may have been ''full stops'' may now
have opened and become ''commas''.
If a person view themselves as a ''quiet'' sort of
a person, it may mean that they/he/she view themselves
as ''deep and probing'' processing persons rather
than empty, passive or anti-social ones.
''Quiet people have the loudest minds,''
says Stephen Hawking.
A societal norm in many different countries is
that quiet people challenge the social
expectations of an extroverted culture that
views talking with confidence and chutzpah
as the ''right'' way to be.
''There is zero correlation between being the best
''talker'' and having the best ideas.''
(Susan Cain)
(Although, in my view, society seems to often equate
visibility and loudness with ability and
capability, it often has a tendency to backfire.)
Apparently, according to those in the know......
some of us feel intimidated by ''quiet people''
because we don't know what the quiet person is
thinking and that creates uncertainty in us.
Just in case you are wondering about the difference
between being quiet and shy.
Being shy(shyness) is an emotional response to
speaking/acting for fear of others ridicule/rejection.
Quietly pondering what to say or do before
doing so, is a mental conscious choice.
I have found the practice of quietude to be
very helpful, so I'd like to share it with you:
It is putting oneself in a state of inner
calmness and stillness, ignoring external
noise and physical wants and desires.
How do I start?
Stop talking and embrace the silence.
about the images: top: Acrylic on large canvas
middle: Acrylic on large canvas
Bottom: acrylic and pastels on mid sized canvas
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