“What did you hear in the silence?” by Choir Teacher, Ms. Schrooten
Odilon Redon. Silence c.1911
Before the beauty of musical sounds can truly flow over and into us, it is silence which welcomes music out into the open. Silence can invite our thoughts to become something more tangible. Silence helps to greet ideas that may lead us onto a new path. Silence – a receptive and active kind of stillness – allows us the calm to be simply present in the moment. In the winter of 2023, I spent about six months attending classes online to become a certified forest therapy guide. Most of our curriculum involved spending time out in nature, simply paying attention; listening and observing what was going on around us in the trees, in the water, and under our feet. I have never felt so alive and connected with the world!
The most important thing I learned is how much the world had to say to me when I just stopped talking and started noticing the natural world around me. In working with our 4 th and 5 th grade singers at MWS this fall, I began experimenting with one exercise that I hoped would lead us into a deeper engagement with the music we were learning. I started to incorporate short periods of silence into each choir rehearsal. At first, it was just a simple challenge to see just how long we could sit quietly without someone starting to giggle. (recently, we almost made it to 90 seconds!). But now, following the silence, I have started to ask the children, “What did you hear in the silence?” I shared that I was hearing remnants of musical phrases we had sung just moments earlier. Some of the students mentioned the same. I wonder what other things we will “hear” in our silence in the coming days? Perhaps we will “hear” thoughts and ideas that have been waiting for such an opportunity of quiet in which to reveal themselves to us.
As I write this article, it is now the season of Advent, a time in which we seek light for the ever-increasing darkness. A time in which we wait, and even long for, closeness, warmth, and certainty. All of us find ourselves in an increasingly noisy world, filled with stimuli, vying for our attention. Setting aside moments during our busy days to be quiet enough to listen to our inner thoughts, revelations, and dreams would go a long way toward helping us to connect with our deeper selves.
In the days ahead, may each of you discover the new and unexpected ways in which stillness and a receptive kind of silence can nourish your soul and reconnect you in important ways to the world that longs to connect with you.