There is wisdom in keeping silent, there is poetry without words, there is joy in paying attention, there is wholeness from contemplation. In a world that talks too much but says too little, there is a need to spend time in that place where silence can teach us how to speak without words, a fertile place where wordless love can grow in a hundred different ways. Who has travelled that road? What did they find?

The words of Rumi (13th century Persian poet, thinker and Islamic scholar)

‘For Sarah’, a poem by Eliot Cardinaux

For Sarah

I think I’ll stare at this.
A small wordless love.
I think I’ll stare at this music.
Maybe that will pass, a small
wordless love that seeks to pass,
pass over what it hovers,
pass away eventually.
Everything passes away.
I think I’ll hold this
in my attention,
this small wordless love.
Make ready for your gifts.
Make ready.
Everything passes away.

“Modern luxury is the ability to think clearly, sleep deeply, move slowly, and live quietly in a world designed to prevent all four.”

~ Justin Welsh, entrepreneur

To be quiet, even wordless in a good place is a better gift than poetry.

~ Wendell Berry, poet

So, if you are too tired to speak, sit next to me because I, too, am fluent in silence.”

~ R. Arnold, writer and activist

Next, a poem I wrote, after a piece by the American poet, Barry Wendell.

Find a Place

Find a place to sit down
and be quiet. Breathe
with unconditional breath
the unconditional air.
Stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything that
hijacks your far thoughts’ wandering.
Find such a place
and make the best of it.
There are only so many days
to change your life.

Watch: How to Find Silence in a Noisy World (A New York Times Video, 7 minutes)