THE ANATOMY OF SLOW - SILENCE

These days I’m quite a talkative person, echoes of the eighth grade version of me known by my science teacher as Mouthy Mary, Most would be surprised to hear that I haven’t always been so vocal, in fact I used to be on the opposite vibe, being referred to as Mute Mary for the first two years of primary school. I was painfully and chronically shy, couldn't get the words out to save myself as I was so scared of being criticized or sounding stupid, it was a deep and serious fear.

I know that being vocal and extroverted is a much better place to be in as I can get things done and usually quite easily communicate what’s on my mind and making myself understood.

However I also know the deep inherent value of Silence and have huge respect for it, after all it’s the space between the music that makes the music, right? Silence and Sound need each other to exist, too much sound or noise then we get overwhelmed or with a splitting headache. While too much silence or alone time and I personally feel like I’m fading into obscurity. I can and do spend hours on end in silence, which is especially necessary for writing or any creative work to be accessed and eventually completed.

Silence, to me is truly a magical place, like a fertile womb space where creation comes from. Though it often gets a bad wrap and has been turned into a place that people are scared to go to. But under all the layers of noise and distraction, silence is there, calm and quietly waiting for your attention.

Noise and distractions are at an all time high, you don’t have to even leave your home anymore to be whisked away into online keyboard warriors arguing in their echo chambers with endless vitriol.. Turning down the external noise is the only way to find out what you need, what your voice is saying and work out how to honour that. Especially in 2025, this In between year, the halfway point of this decade that’s asking Humanity to change.

A few reasons that Silence is so Important to me are the following;

To me Silence is Strength. Choosing not to engage isn’t weakness; it’s wisdom. It takes more courage to hold your tongue than to react and rant, which I’ve been on both sides of, so am definitely talking from experience.

Silence can and often does expose Truth. In an argument or confrontation, when you don’t respond people are left alone with their own words. They hear the echo of their anger and are often forced to confront it. Which shows the truth of a situation very quickly.

Silence protects your peace. This is what I learned through repetitive situations with my brother growing up. He was so argumentative, that I was forced to use my throat chakra to stand up to him, which of course would be fuel for his anger. Took me awhile to realise that little Mary, Mute Mary using silence again was a strategy that did work, as ultimately his words would bounce off of me if I was silent.

In these crazy busy times, learning to slow down, take some deep breaths to drop into the stillness to find that inner quiet is truly a non-negotiable.

Nothing is more valuable than your inner peace and if you don’t feel you have much of it in your life, there are very simple easy and effective ways to slowly invite her in. Meditation and Stillness practices help, as well as journaling or a simple walk in the woods or on the beach.

I understand looking within can be scary and overwhelming, but if you are forever distracting or running away from yourself, what kind of life is that? You will forever be living on the whims of friends and families dramas and all your relationships will be centred around chaos.

To truly know thyself, one needs to face the darkness and the light. to have integrated the shadows and broken parts of our selves and our inner children.

Silence is always there under all the layers of noise; remember it is more of an Unlearning than a brand new Learning..

If you need help with Silence , pelase DM me as I have many practices that can help.