Hello Kevin and Welcome,

I remember, well, the first time I experienced the gap, just a sliver of a gap it was...nice, I wanted more, of course. Some years later the silence is always present, even, composing this comment, it is present, my background screen, my screen saver, now, the silence is ever-present as it always is, was, and will be, with my thoughts being slivers floating in the ocean of silence...

going through papers I found this...I had written on a scrap of paper......You are quiet compassionate space in which the life that you think of as yourself unfolds......even in the midst of chaos and confusion this is our truth.

have a fine and dandy day...ruth

Dear Kevin

A nice description of the transition from the present now to a more eternal one.

Last night I saw a movie called The Story of the Weeping Camel ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373861/ ). It's a view into a world where life has been lived in more or less the same way for centuries, where patience is not a virtue, it's a way of life, where gentleness is more usual than not, where respect for animals' feelings doesn't compete with humans' need to control them as sources of food, labor and transportation. Set in present-day Mongolia, it's the story of a new camel colt who's rejected by his mother because the birth was so difficult for her. People try to help the mother get used to her colt, but she resists. They fall back upon an old ritual, playing special music for the mother camel. A special musician has to be sought out for the purpose. The music succeeds in healing the mother's pain, and she lets her colt suckle and stay with her. The sequence of events from the camel mother's labor to reconciliation of mother and colt was slow in real life. You can see how slow it must have been, but the film's effect on the viewer about the passage of time is intense and suspenseful, because it's a short film, about 90 minutes long. It feels very rich and story-like, but it's a documentary. It's a picture of how to live in the moment, and how to respect the needs of all others and the earth, as well, and it's real.

love, h

Hi Kevin, Ruth & Heather,
It is a fine day - and finally bright sunshine streaming through my window, oh so nice!

I had a walk earlier, and the silence I experience - is being present to the sites and sounds, without any running commentary in my mind (not easy to achieve, I confess)

I love the nature sounds - birds and - someone's dog barking, children voices and a boy skateboarding. A little car traffic but not much.

In the wooded area, it is much quieter, and the pine and oak trees provide shade from the intense heat.

It really is fantastic to be a part of life and all the myriad ways of communication, and still seek and appreciate silence.

Yet, if we all were to go silent .... we wouldn't be here, writing and sharing our insights and experiences, joys and sorrows.

Thanks for your post Kevin. I don't want the trip to end either :)

love,
~ Kate

Heather, thank for the movie review, I cannot tell you how many times I have picked up that movie, in the library, and, put it back, now, I will have to get it and watch it!

Kate, living up North my windows are closed, all winter, when late spring arrives and one can keep the windows open, at night, you get to hear the birds start their morning songs...and, really, they start about 4:30 am...I swear, it is the most beautiful sound one can ever awaken to, especially, after a very long silent winter. When I awaken to their sounds instead of an alarm clock I am truly experiencing a very "heavenly" awakening....and it is all spring and summer long for free! Really, it is exquisite and it always makes me wonder about our true creator and it's taste in music....on the one hand Nature awakens each day to this lovely sound, and, then we have man who created the alarm clock...can never compare.

now, I really have to get going...:))ruth

Once you are grounded in that silence, it never leaves you.

The other day I was at my job, and someone commented on being left out of the social circles at work. I don't really move in social circles at my job. I have music and other stuff i do outside my job. Someone else said, "That's how Yogi must feel - left out." I turned to her and said - "Are you kidding? Aloneness is pure bliss."

There was look of total incomprehension on her face.

The idea that someone could be alone and not be lonely, bored, or depressed, apparently has never occurred to her.

Don't get me wrong. I love people.

But I don't need them around just to avoid being alone.