We seem so frightened today of being alone that we never let it happen…We choke the space with continuous music, chatter, and companionship to which we do not even listen. It is simply there to fill the vacuum. When the noise stops there is no inner music to take its place. – Ann Morrow Lindbergh

I am going to write today on a topic that may make you uncomfortable. So be warned now before you read on.

I try to find a quiet peaceful place to read, write a little and be to myself twice a day. I typically find this place twice a month (sometimes twice a year).

Sadly, I want for this. I am not one who seeks crowds. Just ask my friends. Of which I still have a few…I think. As I have written I don’t take near enough time for them. So even when I tend to guard my personal time, which there isn’t much of, jealously I cannot find the space and time to just be to myself. About the best I do is like right now when I am in a coffee house, writing this and listening to inspiring music through my ear buds, blocking out the people.

I have a space at home where I can be silent, but the wife and I tend to fight over it quite a lot…she usually wins (which is probably one reason I have been married so long).

Some of my favorite reading is about the lives of monks and saints. Many who made a firm practice and daily ritual of being in silence if they were not hermits to begin with. I think I read about this so much because it is what I aspire to but have trouble finding.

But beyond my personal seeking, and rarely finding, desire for silence I witness the impact of a world with fewer and fewer silent places.

Moments of potential silence are now filled with electronic distraction. Think about this; when was the last time you had a few moments and what you did with it? Grab your phone or tablet and check up on your social media, or surf the web I would hazard.

This is the insidious nature of the world – give it a moment and it will fill it with something.

However, the quote from Ann Morrow Lindbergh holds a very interesting component – “When the noise stops there is no inner music to take its place.”

We are increasingly losing our inner music, our inner voice. We do not allow space for it to play or speak to us due to the lack of silence. Thus there is no space for creativity. No space for a divine spark. There is only the next distraction.

We need to learn to cultivate quiet space for things of a divine or creative nature to sprout, grow and blossom. While I strive for this I too need to make more space in my life for it. I think back to times when I was good about this and can tell you that life was … fuller, more robust, peaceful even. When we make space for our minds to do something more than take in the next cute cat video the world tends to open up to us.

I say this in all honesty and with great humility for not continuing to cultivate this daily in my life. A time for silence, and I will even hazard to say meditation, creates space and allows for us to let our mind expand. When I say meditate, for those of you who might be allergic to such words, I mean allowing time for us to think deeply upon our lives, our personal growth and cultivating space that is calming. In a very hectic world it is amazing what time like this can do to help us gain perspective.

Where there is no silence, there is no perspective and no space to cultivate a perspective.

You may say that you thrive on a hectic pace and that is fine I believe I do as well. But even the strongest motor must be filled to maintain its pace. When we have no space for filling our inner tanks there is only a continual emptying and degrading of the quality of our inner motor. Be it running out of fuel or simply wearing out from continual use.

Creating and cultivating silence may seem frightening. It may feel like there is no way for you to do so in your world.

“I don’t have time.” – yes you do, you just have to prioritize your time.

“I don’t have space.” – If you have rooms where you live, you have space. If you don’t have rooms then you have your vehicle. If you don’t have a vehicle then you probably have a lot of free time and I know there are trees to sit under everywhere!

“My mind wanders.” – great, so does mine. Guess what, that is what this space is for, allowing our minds to wander. To ponder great and simple things. To expand to truly listen to that still small voice.

These reasons can go on and on. The ability to cultivate silence creates space for stillness. And what I have found is that when I create this space it becomes something I look forward to. Too I find that life is more manageable, my anxiety is reduced and I am typically … well, just a better person in every aspect of my life.

There must be space for our inner music to play, but until we cultivate that space we can only hear the music of the world.