Silences

Silences are such ambiguous things; they mean so many things at once. Silence presents itself in many forms; speech, thought, action, reaction, body language, visual stimuli and much more. One has heard of pregnant pauses, ominous silences, instances "when you say nothing at all"; one has heard most of it all.

Hushed silence preludes one's entrance in to the examination halls, heightening the tension felt. It draws the nerve strings taut and sharpens the memory of some while blanking out that of some others.

Then again there are contemplative silences, those that speak of thought and evaluation. The darting of the eyes, the alertness in the air. Topping my wish list is the one where I buy a house of my own. People with more experience tend to treat this as a parent does their child's demand for a puppy: as a passing phase. A silence of the sort just mentioned descended on the lunch room as the price of a 2BR was announced.

When you are by yourself, not another with you in thought, emotion or physical presence, the silence that envelopes is of a depth and magnitude so deep and vast, that you might feel like either breaking away to find some company [drowning out the 'voices' in your head] or to sit a while more and experience what it must be like to be with yourself.

Omnipresent in its essence, silence can be had in so many ways. Which one will it be next?