Rediscovering Silence

In an increasingly noisy, distracting world, the idea of enjoying silence—healthysilence—has become for many people just a mirage. We talk about "a little peace andquiet" not because we experience it regularly, but because it''s a joke we tellourselves when we''re overwhelmed. Silence is on the endangered experiences list.Today, if you''re like most people, you''ll spend 11 hours today in front of screens,interact with your phone more than 2,000 times, and encounter just as manycommercial messages. Silence will hardly show up at all. Certainly not moments ofsilence you intentionally planned. Part of the challenge is that silence has gottena bad rap. The silent treatment, silent betrayal, and even deprivation have made usgun-shy, and rightly so. Is it even worth trying to include silence in our lives?Rediscovering Silence argues yes. Using silence well is like using a muscle, and thebest kinds of silence can rehumanize us, by introducing us to the gifts oflistening, canvas, answer, anticipation, respect, rest, and wonder. From theanechoic chamber of Microsoft''s headquarters to the 36 questions that bring peoplecloser together, from John Cage''s "4 minutes and 33 seconds" to Yom HaShoah and thesunken place, this book is an adventure in search of an answer: How can we findourselves again in silence? Explore powerful ideas as different as comic timing isfrom silent mode. Learn from voices as diverse as Jordan Peele and Jesus, ShusakuEndo and J.S. Bach, Arthur and Elaine Aron, Öslem Cekic, Emma Gonzalez, and OrsonWelles. Do you know the only difference between noise and music? It''s whether thepattern between sound and silence is meaningful, or meaningless. The same is true ofyour life. Rediscovering Silence was written so you can begin to find, pursue, andeven help to create a meaningful rhythm between sound and silence, a rhythm thattransforms your life more into the music it''s meant to be.