Questions from a Spiritual Director
How do we feel about silence?
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A few years after graduating with my degree in educational interpreting for the Deaf, I worked as an Interpreting Coordinator at a local university. In addition to serving as one of the sign language interpreters for the Deaf students on campus, part of my job was also to facilitate opportunities for connection which meant I spent time with these college students both inside and outside the classroom.
What you may be surprised to know is that Deaf people are not quiet people. Some Deaf people use their voice to speak which brings a similar kind of chatter you would find in a group of hearing people. But then there’s the added noise of culturally acceptable ways to get one another’s attention, like hitting the table or stomping the floor. They laugh and clap and click and are beautifully expressive.
Like so many things, our expectations of what will be silent or how we may experience silence may turn out to be different than we at first assume.
I would love to know how you feel about silence—if it’s generally positive or negative, what it reminds you of, your level of comfort or discomfort when practicing it, what lengths you’ll go to avoid it. I’ll offer some context and then I would love to hear from you in the comments!
Recently I named 52 stories that silence may tell in my own life, and that’s just off the top of my head. Like, for example: