Silence

Years ago, I felt the need for silence–the need for calmness and tranquility from all the noise on TV and from the media. So I started to read, made it a goal to read for just one hour a day. The more I read, the more the noise started to die down. And in my solitude of reading, my mind was transported elsewhere–living in the imaginary world of the books I read.

That silence became a kind of meditation–a way of centering my focus, of training my mind to be still and to concentrate on one thing for a long period of time.

While the noise was gone, my mind was active. I hardly tuned in to the media or to what was on TV. I realized how much less anxious felt with them gone, how much clearer my thoughts were, how much better I was able to think.

Reading requires silence because our imagination is working harder than actively seeing or listening. Reading is a different medium from music or film, one that requires us not just to perceive through our senses, but to imagine what images and sounds might exist.