Celebrating Quiet...

Continuing on in my summary of the book, Seven Times the Sun, this post will focus on Chapter 5: "Listen to the Quiet."

Like Celebrating play, appreciating quiet comes pretty naturally for me. I thrive in quiet, peaceful atmospheres. Library nooks, an open field, a mountain lake, conversation with a friend or a small group. Crowded, loud places often overwhelm me completely. When I used to walk into a gym for a basketball game, pep rally, or anything really, I would immediately get a horrible feeling in my stomach and have to go to the bathroom and do a back bend in order for the crampy feeling to go away. Super strange and random, I know. The point is, is that when I saw the title of this chapter, I thought, "Oh, thats me. Mrs. Celebrates Quiet." But once I really dug into it, I realized it will take a lot of effort to allow our children to "listen to the quiet" and I may not celebrate it quite as much as I thought I did.

In her introduction to the chapter the author writes, " How many of us come to quiet moments as a child fighting sleep? Reluctant to release the world of sound. Non-stop conversation, the TV, the radio, the Walkman...What are we trying to drown with all this noise? The alternative must be frightening to us: to hear each other, our own spirit, and silence, unknown silence."

It's true, isn't it? Even I, who professes a love of quiet moments, drown myself in endless noise. When I choose to end my day with a mindless show or tune out my thoughts with music, or constantly pepper the babes with comments and questions while we are outside...these are moments when I choose noise over quiet. I'm not saying these are bad things in and of themselves (well, mindless TV watching is pretty meaningless) but it's just that I think I miss opportunities for reflection, for wonder, and for tuning into life sometimes when I choose noise.

So, a few of the simple rituals she gives to help our children Celebrate Quiet:

A pause a day: Create a quiet time each day when your child can nap or partake in a quiet activity. She suggests special songs or a story before nap time, or a reading time for older children. Other activities older children might enjoy that she suggests are finger knitting, basket weaving or beading a necklace. She suggests that younger children can use that same focused energy in tasks like carding wool fleece, stringing large wooden beads, or separating marbles or beads by color.

Walking on the Wild Side Take a silent nature walk around your neighborhood or nearby parks or trails. When you return home discuss all of the different sounds that you hear. I am continually amazed at how in tune Sam and Amelia are to the world around us when we are outside. They hear dogs, planes, babies crying, birds chirping, sirens loooong before I do. I think it must be that their little inner world is much less cluttered than ours. They are tuned in and I want to help them stay that way!

She concludes the chapter by asking us to notice how much we as parents talk. She reminds her readers that children live most fully in the physical and feelings realm. So she encourages us to make sure there are quiet pauses in our conversation to allow us to simply be together. Also, to turn some of our questions into clear, brief statements without an expectation of return on their part.

My favorite song from this chapter is a simple tune with the words:

"Quiet! Quiet! Make note any noise! Listen, listen to the Holy Voice! Wonder is coming near, as we still ourselves to hear. Quiet! Quiet! Make not any noise!"

It reminds me so much of the verse in the Bible that says, "Be still and know that I am God."

It sounds like such an easy thing to do, but in this day and in this culture, being still in our hearts and minds is counter to everything around us. We are missing out on so much that He has to show us though if we would just "listen to the quiet". Ahhhh. I like the sound of that:)

Jen