Nanki, Week 10 - Silence is Deafening
You might have noticed in my last blog that I did not include a title. There was a reason for that.
Because silence has power.
That's something my mother always used to tell me when I was growing up. "If speech is silver, then silence is gold."
She mostly used that as a way of getting me to stop talking, the little chatterbox that I was. But as I get older, I understand what she means.
Now it might not be exactly orthodox for someone to publicly point out their own flaws and discuss it, but I've discovered a sort of power in constructive self-criticism.
After taking psychology this year, I've figured out exactly why I felt the need to speak so much when I was younger. Not that I was speaking out of turn, but it was like any time someone would give me the light of day or even just a minute of their attention, I would just spill everything I had been holding inside of me for the past year.
And I think that's because it felt like nobody listened. Or it was rather the fear that nobody would listen to what I had to say or that nobody would like me. But in doing so, I lost the importance of what I had to say. I lost the importance of anything I said. I lost the attention of those around me. I noticed how the quiet kids in the back of the classroom were always the ones everyone really listened to.
"Shut up! He's talking!"
Or even in the news. The politicians that never said a word in the Indian parliament would have all eyes on them.
People listened. For a minute in the world, they had all the power.
It lead me to start thinking about all the different ways that silent held power.
I think about MLK and his refusal to utilize violence in his struggle during the Civil Rights Movement. Physical silence.
I think about how when we must show respect to someone who has passed, we have moments of silence.
I think about how most prayers are done in silence.
I think about how we concentrate best in silence.
Silence has so much more power than we realize.
And sometimes, even when we raise commotion. Even when we're loud. Even when we make noise. It's silent. It's silenced. Silenced by media. Silenced by society. But that doesn't take away its power because...
Silence is deafening.
- 1.the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality."the power of speech"
source: unsplash
Hi Nanki! I love your blog! The details that you went on to explain why silence is power were amazing! From my point of view, I can somewhat understand what you had felt when you were younger. The feeling that there is no one out there to really listen to what you say. From what I remember from childhood, I talked to my stuffed animals quite a lot and tell them absolutely everything. It felt like I was a ticking bomb ready to blow. Before reading your blog, i did not think much about silence. I mean, it was something that can happen anywhere at anytime. But I never thought about it as a power. From what I know, silence can be very powerful and we just might not notice it. It something that happens very often but we never expect it to hold much power. Thank you for sharing your blog!
ReplyDeleteWow Nanki Kaur. I really do like the concept that you took with this week’s blog, and, not only that, but the foresight needed last week to plan out such an event! I, myself, also feel like I can be considered a bit of a chatter mouth except it is more so the opposite in terms of age ranges. When I was younger, I was much quieter and usually kept to myself unless there were important issues. Now that I am in high school and have gotten a bit more confident, I have noticed that my speaking levels have increased substantially. But I understand what you are trying to say with the power of silence and I have also noticed that people tend to listen more intently when someone who does talk much, speaks. Unfortunately, I have developed a bit of a habit of filling the silence. Whether it be sitting in a car on a drive, waiting for someone to look at something, or even just standing in an elevator with a stranger (Much to my mother’s dismay because I will often tell random people in the elevator puns if given the chance). But despite my discomfort with silence, my most favorite person in the world, my dad, is a quiet person. He is not unsocial and speaks well when he has to, but I have noticed that when he does talk it is always because he has something to say. But despite our differences, I think we have a quite good dynamic because I am chatty and he is quiet. Though I slightly envy those who are able to maintain that comfortable silence, I think that there is also merit in having both sides of the coin. As much as we need silence, we also need voice. I really did like your blog Nanki Kaur, thought-provoking as always!
ReplyDeleteHello Nanki. I love the idea you proposed in your blog about the attention that silence gives one. I noticed that you used the word power sparingly throughout your blog, so when you do utilize it, it is powerful. You mentioned how the less one speaks the more weight their words hold. This is the same as why we tend to find limited items attractive. Since there is so little of this thing, then it must be valuable. Since you mentioned psychology, it made me think of the evolutionary approach. The reason why the less available an item is the more special it feels is because when our ancestors lived, important resources like water and food were often limited and the rule of survival of the fittest caused them to see others as competition. Now when we see a limited-time event, we view it as a challenge and other people as our competitors. The same idea how when one limits the amount of information or times they speak like they are giving up something precious. I love how you decided to format your blog like how you bolded the word power, how you used repetition in your evidence, and how you perfectly copied the layout of the definition of power. Thank you for writing Nanki.
ReplyDeleteNanki, your blog was truly vivid and had me waiting to read more. It had me hooked on and captivated my attention. I agree that silence draws attention more than words. People tend to listen more to soft-spoken silent people compared to loud people. I believe silence speaks more than words do. Similarly to MLK, I think of Gandhi's nonviolent protest. Though I am not saying Gandhi himself was a good man as he wasn't. Silence is powerful and can cause change more than any complaints. The act of staying silent is a skill in itself. Overall, your blog was captivating and went over an interesting topic.
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