Silence

I went to the closest state park, about a twenty minute drive from my house, and I found a side trail and a place to sit by the lake. And then I practiced listening.

The spot was far enough out that at times the only human-made noise I heard was a light hum, far off, from I know not what. Over time, there were planes, cars, even a boat, but all of those noises were short-lived... It got quiet enough to hear water lapping against the rocks, birds squawking at each other on an island in the distance, and robins near by, moving through the leaf litter.

I was still long enough, that a little wren came within feet of me, coming to rest on a branch a little higher up than my level, wren's being some of the bravest of the birds.

As I kept practicing my silence, I thought of John Cage and his quest to find ultimate silence. It led one day him to a sealed chamber where it was so quiet that all he could hear was his body's automatic functions, including the whining sound of his neurons firing.

I am glad someone went that far to report it back to me. From this I get that you cannot be alive and have total silence. But still, it is nice to get away from civilization at the level of my senses.