Unless you've a profound hearing loss I will never believe that you truly know what silence is to us. Silence is the absence of sound, therefore a library/study hall is not silent. Maybe it's quiet, or not very loud. An empty house is not silent - I can hear the rain pitter-pattering on the windows, the refrigerator humming and the dogs' nails clicking on the floor. If you had earplugs in both ears you'd still hear someone yelling, that practice target shot or the beat of the music concert you're attending. For me a quiet hike up a mountain includes hearing birds calling every which way, grass and leaves crunching beneath my step and the ocean waves lapping to and fro. Even during a meditation, I can hear my breath, the chair move as I adjust my position and my hair falling with a rustle as I raise my eyes and chin towards the sky. These little detailed sounds of life (or Simon & Garfunkel’s Sounds of Silence?) that we get to hear are SO special! AND sometimes on emotionally draining days, it gets to be TOO much!
The only way I've been able to put words to it is imagine you're a thousand feet under the sea at night on a new moon, darkness surrounds you and you can't even see the silhouette of your hand in front of your face. That's how "quiet" the world is for me when I take off my "ears". Now - hear this (pun totally intended!): none of those words were scary or negative. None. Because my silence is actually quite comforting. It's my place of solace when I choose it.
