Sounds of Silence

Our Project Learning Tree lesson on sound made me think about silence and the sounds of silence. Our society puts a negative connotation on silence. It is seen as a tool for oppression or as a symptom of sadness. This doesn't hold true in all cultures. In an anthropology class I took in college, I learned about some of the different ways other cultures portray silence. For example, I've heard that to some Japanese, it's rude to not take a moment to think when someone asks you a question. This makes sense to me. I notice that when someone asks me something and I take a quiet moment to think about what they've asked me, they keep talking to fill the silence. In the classroom, when a teacher asks a question, students are expected to answer right away. I usually felt I needed a little time to think about what I was going to say before I raised my hand, and I often didn't have that time to in school. By the time I thought of what to say, the discussion had moved on. Some teachers would see this as me not wanting to participate, or they thought I was shy.

Silence between two or more people doesn't have to be "awkward silence;" it can be a sign that you're comfortable. In a conversation, you might feel like you have to keep saying something back and forth. For me, sometimes I want to talk or listen to music and sometimes I want silence. (Note: When I say silence, keep in mind that our world is never completely silent, due to ambient noise). Silence helps me clear my head and think. Silence helps me learn, because I can't hear others or what's going on around me as much if I'm talking. So often people ask me if I'm OK because they say I'm being so quiet. Why do people associate silence with sadness? You can be sad and quiet, or you can be sad and want to talk about it. Or they say, "you're shy," or "are you mad?" In our society, sometimes people feel like they need to fill every moment with words or some kind of sound, like music or the TV. This is sort of like how people think they need to fill space with material things like furniture. Empty space (which in reality is not empty at all) can be peaceful and liberating, like the desert.

NEGATIVE CONNOTATION OF SILENCE

THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT COMES UP WHEN YOU GOOGLE SILENCE

ONE WAY OF ENJOYING SILENCE

Silence can help you clear your mind and improve your concentration to learn, work, or focus on a specific task more efficiently. Don't get me wrong, discussing, collaboration, and learning from each other through the use of words is extremely important, as well as speaking out when injustice is being done. I'm an English major---I love words and sharing information, but in our noisy world, the proper use of silence is also important, not just for peace of mind but also for being aware of your surroundings, observing, and learning. I like how during our Adopt-A-Tree exercise, we were asked to observe a tree in silence. It's important to see, hear, feel, smell, and taste while you're not talking so you can fully experience your senses. When you talk at the same time you do something, you're thinking about the words you're going to say while you observe, so you're multi-tasking and not providing your full attention and all of your senses to the exercise of observing or the task at hand. Collaborating is also very important, because someone else might notice something you did not. The process of observing and learning is important to do both in silence and through words, on your own and with others.

I had a hard time finding articles on the positive side of silence, but here are a couple. De Geest's The Negative Persona of Silence is on how our society views silence as something negative:
https://eview.anu.edu.au/anuuj/vol3_11/pdf4/ch02.pdf

Sally Jones' Speech is Silver, Silence is Golden: the Cultural Importance of Silence in Japan touches on how people view silence in different ways:
http://wfae.proscenia.net/library/articles/de_geest_persona.pdf

Sometimes, I need quiet time to myself to recharge my batteries. Some people mistake wanting to do "nothing" for laziness. Stillness is not laziness.

This blog touches on that and the importance of stillness in this fast-paced world:
http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/5034604 

I share Christopher Robin's idea of doing nothing. Clip from Winnie the Pooh:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10102339171772874&id=6311234&refid=12&__tn__=H

This book would be perfect to read out loud with the PLT lesson on sound. I love it!

Quiet in the GardenWritten and illustrated by: Aliki

Something to think about: In music, the resting notes in between melody notes play a major role in the composition of the song.

I like the idea of implementing "Slow Down to Speed Up," in the classroom. (I'd like to learn more about this concept for another blog).

References:

De Geest, Heather. The Negative Persona of Silence. Retrieved from: https://eview.anu.edu.au/anuuj/vol3_11/pdf4/ch02.pdf

Jones, Sally. Speech is Silver, Silence is Golden: the Cultural Importance of Silence in Japan. (1999). Retrieved from: http://wfae.proscenia.net/library/articles/de_geest_persona.pdf

Robertson, Kelly. Image retrieved from: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://fearless-selling.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Silence.jpg&imgrefurl=http://fearless-selling.ca/tag/using-silence-to-close-sales/&h=610&w=900&tbnid=zazcV0bDk4nFsM:&zoom=1&docid=IZrCLLtmlQTM1M&ei=wQ5mVZr-NdGMsQTUwYCYBA&tbm=isch&ved=0CJIBEDMoYjBi