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Sunday, May 29, 2016

The Richness of Silence

Btw, do you like silence? I sometimes like silence and sometimes, not. I'd say, it's wonderful to have a family/friend/ or an intimate relation to share a rich silence, feeling "Silence is not bad," over coffee. Our society is very noisy. It seems that silence is not welcomed. A modern society has the phobia of silence. But I feel different silences : empty vs rich. The other day, a friend said, "We are so afraid of silence because we are afraid of sitting with ourselves!" She told me an interesting episode. 
Ages ago when my friend took a short week off - just a place to stay in the bush and on her own. She took books and some music but not much. And someone who visited her yelled, "How can you stand this quiet? It would drive me crazy!" Unfortunately, the visitor could not share silence with my friend. I wonder if the visitor only felt an empty silence. On the other hand, my friend was enjoying a rich silence. Unfortunately, they could not share it. Do you have a similar experience? 
I recall another lady desperately asked me, "Why are you silent?" years ago. I was just concentrating on well listening to her say over the phone. The question puzzled me. Later, I knew she had the depression from the pressure of fame. People are afraid of the lack of conversation called silence. My friend's say, "We are so afraid of silence because we are afraid of sitting with ourselves!" is spot on. However, the friend was, in fact, unconsciously enjoying the richness of silence in the bush! 

Me, too, not afraid of sitting with myself in silence. I've felt the difference between empty silence and rich silence. Probably, that's one of what I've learned most important insights in psychology -- love oneself properly = love others properly in silence. Although I'm still learning a lot, that insight has enabled me to taste rich silence and enjoy it with myself and others. 
Most of us have fear and hatred to face ourselves. I remember the section I read, "Projection" and "distortion" in "defence mechanisms" in a counselling psychology book at uni. Because of the small capacity of our ego's acceptance of reality, we project our hatred of ourselves or self denials onto an outside world and a third party. In short, we blame on a third party, not us. In counselling, a first and important step of a client is to face her/himself. It's painful to recognise one's own distorted value system. A counsellor assists a clients to dig deep why such self-denial happened and to trace it back even in a childhood, if necessary. As we're so afraid of facing ugly ourselves in silence, we turn away from it and could run into noises in society. Or we can't bear to accept what we are or to see distorted ourselves. 

I wonder if, once, we accept ourselves properly, we will love ourselves properly and others, too. We can enjoy the richness of silence and share it in joy with others. At the same time, this sounds contradicted though, we cannot be totally alone even in rich silence and need a third party to share joy in silence, I feel. We need balance between silence and noise. Silence could reveal the level of the intimacy in people. Can you remember when the friend and I visited the all handmade house in the bush and we had a wonderful time? Often we were totally silent. She had some books and I had a sketch book. We seldom spoke or had a flat chat and looked at beautiful nature around the house. We tasted rich silence and came back to a noisy society. When we came home, we began to chat again like before.
Also, I usually sketch in silence, but in joy. I'm very happy that all the people have come out beautiful! It shows how much I love others and myself in a healthy way, as you know. In my eyes, anyone is shining. I love what they are or what we are. 
Friends, I hope if I will see you in person one day, we can share both a chat and silence. Thank you for reading my post and share time! 
Happy Painting! 



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16 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post, Sadami! Yes, more silence and more comfort with silence is what is needed, I think. And a friend to walk beside without feeling the need to fill the silence up with unnecessary words = being comfortable with ourselves and with others :) Have a wonderful week!

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    1. Oh, sweet Rhonda, you, too! Let's share a productive and joyful silence. Cheers, Sadami

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  2. Very interesting art blog and so amazing paintings !!!

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    1. Thank you for visiting! Very happy to know your positive and warm feedback. You, too, enjoy journey in art. Best wishes, Sadami

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  3. I really like what you have to say about silence and accepting ourselves. and I love the sketches - they project a happy acceptance as well :)

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    1. Happy to know your positive feedback. In the experimental sketches, I enjoyed "washes" in the backgrounds. I'll do that technique for my illustrations more. Cheers, Sadami

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  4. El silencio total, no me gusta!
    Me gusta oír el canto de los pájaros, el de las olas del mar, el ruido del fuego en la chimenea... estos ruidos me encantan!!!
    El del viento y la lluvia: NO!
    Tus dibujos como siempre: muy buenos!
    Un abrazo, Sadami

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    1. Oh, buen Joshemari, muchas gracias por los comentarios importantes. Es hasta el valor de un individuo y depende de un contexto. Ruidos tienen otro significado a cada uno de nosotros. Disfrutar de su dibujo y la pintura! Los mejores deseos, Sadami

      Oh, nice Joshemari, thank you very much for the important feedback. It's up to an individual's value and depends on a context. Noises have another meaning to each of us. Enjoy your drawing and painting! Best wishes, Sadami

      >>>> Joshemari said...
      The total silence, I do not like!
      I like to hear the birds singing, the waves of the sea, the sound of fire in the fireplace ... I love these noises !!!
      The wind and rain: NO!
      Your drawings as always, very good!
      A hug, Sadami

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  5. You are right, Sadami, our society is so noisy, that sometimes it is hard to "hear" our own thoughts. I like silence and it never feels empty to me. The sounds of nature are always enjoyable, but often the sounds added to our urban life are more like noise. Way too many!
    Your paintings and sketches are wonderful. I love the face of the boy in the first one!

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    1. Thank you, sweet Blaga! We need to hear our thoughts like you wrote above, which requires rich silence. Sadly, our urban life is full of noises and busy. I hope, at least, we can have rich hearts to enjoy silence and share it with others. The boy was in a library. I enjoyed added "washes" on his background. I'll have fun in washes more. You, too, enjoy watercolour painting. I look forward to it!! Best wishes, Sadami

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  6. I enjoy silence, well as Silent as we can find. Our silence here has a background of waves and the breeze (sometimes gale force, lol)...but I like that kind of silence - A Silence with Nature - bliss. Take care Sadami, hope you are well. (ann at www.studiohyde.blogspot.co.uk)

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    1. Oh, sweet Ann, thank you! Indeed, we are very happy in rich silence like you depicted above. Everyone is gently smiling in mother nature. You, too, please take care. My doctors are happy with my leg. I'm known as a client very hard working on rehab. Best wishes, Sadami

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  7. You have raised an interesting topic, Sadami. I appreciate silence when I need to concentrate on my work. I usually listen to music when I paint but sometimes I need to turn it down to pay all my attention on my painting. Beautiful sketches!! Take care!!

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    1. Thank you, Anna! I see. You, too, concentrate on the thing you do. I often do not listen to music while I work or paint, but I often sing or sing in my head. You, too, enjoy drawing. Take care. Best wishes, Sadami

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