Carol H Tucker Passionate about knowledge management and organizational development, expert in loan servicing, virtual world denizen and community facilitator, and a DISNEY fan
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beladona Memorial Be warned:in this very rich environment where you can immerse yourself so completely, your emotions will become engaged -- and not everyone is cognizant of that. Among the many excellent features of SL, there is no auto-return on hearts, so be wary of where your's wanders...
Today is the 4th day of the 38th week, the 21st day of the 9th month, the last day of summer , the 265th day of 2016, and:
Independence day: Malta from the United Kingdom in 1964; Belize from the United Kingdom in 1981; Armenia from the Soviet Union in 1991
International Banana Festival
International Day of Peace
Miniature Golf Day
National Farm Safety Day for Kids
National Pecan Cookie Day
National Rehabilitation Day
National School Backpack Awareness Day
Pause the World Day
World Alzheimer's Day
World Gratitude Day
On this day in 455 Emperor Avitus entered Rome with a Gallic army and consolidates his power. In 1897 the "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" editorial was published in the New York Sun ((before Thanksgiving?!)). In 1931 Britain went off the gold standard. In 1933 Salvador Lutteroth ran the first ever EMLL (now CMLL) show in Mexico, marking the birth of Lucha libre [the oldest professional wrestling promotion still in existence]. In 1937 JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit was published [the day before Bilbo's and Frodo's birthday!]. In 2001 Deep Space 1 flew within 2,200 km of Comet Borrelly. In 2003 the Galileo mission was terminated by sending the probe into Jupiter's atmosphere, where it was crushed by the pressure at the lower altitudes.
There are many sayings about silence – the value, when to use it, how it reflects on emotional wellbeing.
I know that I personally dread those words “you are quiet” [or have been or seem to be, etc] because “silent” just never has been my default setting. I never understand when I am told that I am getting quiet. I do know that if there is no one about to talk to, I used to talk to myself, tell myself stories, or sing – I tend to think and process outloud. My mother once told me that even as a youngster, the chatter often started before my feet hit the floor. In high school a very popular guy who was struck by the wisdom of Kahil Gibran handed me the reflections on talking, that one genuinely hurt my feelings and I obviously still remember that incident even a half of century later. More recently I was taken aback when it was pointed out that just because I have chosen to live my life outloud, not everyone wants to hear it. But through the years I have learned that when I fall silent, it is usually a bad sign.
And when I say it to another, it means that I am worried. I thrive on the buzz and sound of others' thoughts. I love asking questions and getting to know someone, delving into how they think and feel and understanding why they do the things that they do. So the silence of others is something that can cut me to the quick. Want to ensure that I will lose my temper completely? Hang up on me. Want to put distance between us? Stop answering my questions, stop sharing, stop responding to emails/IM/text/hail. When that buzz is gone, I feel as though I have gone deaf and the tigers flex their claws and begin to circle
And yet silence is a very much a function of prayer and meditation, one that is included in many spiritual processes, the idea being that you can force your mind to shut up and focus. One of the books that fascinates me and gets re-read periodically is Chaim Potok’s The Chosen, a book about a brilliant Hasidic boy who is raised in silence to teach him empathy. Why? “One learns of the pain of others by suffering one's own pain, by turning inside oneself, by finding one's own soul. And it is important to know of pain. It destroys our self pride, our arrogance, our indifference towards others” ~ -Chaim Potok, The Chosen
Despite the angst displayed during the story, at the end Danny forgives his father for the emotional pain of the silence, telling his friend:
"'You can listen to silence, Reuven. I've begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own. It talks to me sometimes. I feel myself alive in it. It talks. And I can hear it.'" The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, Chapter 17, p. 262
I try to envision being raised in deliberate silence, being taught to listen to the buzzing of thoughts without words and I find that I cannot.
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