Morning Thoughts: Silent Observation

This morning I've been thinking about how much I value silence. 

I work at the school where a couple of my kids go, and we carpool in the morning with one of their friends. We often have lively conversations on the way to school (it's a bit of a commute), and I'm usually an active participant. But this morning, I just felt like listening. 

It was wonderful. 

As much as I love a good debate—and all the kids in my car are more than happy to debate with me on a range of topics—I think I'd forgotten how much I could glean just by staying out of the conversation for a while and really paying attention to what was being said. I learned things about the people speaking, about the topic under discussion, and about myself. I deliberately chose not to speak even when potential comments occurred to me. Instead I let others respond, and in some ways, this was even more fulfilling than having participated in what was an interesting conversation myself. 

In fact, I did participate, and actively. I just didn't do it out loud, and it was a nice reminder that I sometimes need to back off, to balance my conversation with contemplation, and just be silent, so that my voice doesn't become the only thing I have ears to hear.