Blessings and Silence

Last Wednesday I took a day of silence in order to honor & appreciate the privilege [that I have] of speaking and being heard almost always. I carried a small note with me explaining why I was silent so that my peers in ballet class and others would not be concerned or get the impression that I didn't want to say hello to them.

While I was eating my lunch (home made) in a cafe on campus, a lovely cultural anthropologist whom I know of (of course, being a 5^th year anthropology major) approached me and asked me, “Is that your lunch or dinner?” First, I thought it was quite adorable that he wanted to engage with me. Professors are often so busy – why care about some undergraduates eating practices?

After not responding he asked his question again – genuinely concerned about someone eating a hearty meal at 3pm (was is lunch or dinner?!?!!?!?!? haha, definitely lunch) I showed this professor (named Pandey Lokey, studies the Indian-American diaspora) my small note. He looked at me and says “That's beautiful. God bless you.”

As someone who doesn't believe in god, I still very much value and appreciate it when someone says god bless you. Why not? That's love right there. I'll take it.

He walked away and left me to continue eating. As he was about to get in the elevator, he turned around. With an extremely thick Indian accent, Dr. Lokey then proceeded to tell me that Ghandi used to take silence every Sunday and also shared some cool stories about a Hindi prophet in Santa Cruz who is in his 40's and has been silent since he was TWELVE. He said God bless you once more, and then left again.

Warm fuzzies inside, definitely.

I am going to continue taking silence on Wednesdays, because I think it's important and fruitful. My best friend, who has greatly influenced my ambitions/goals in becoming the adult I want to be, is always challenging me and making me think deeply about how I want to interact with the world.

She has once posed these 2 questions to me [regarding speaking], which are particularly influential while taking silence:

1. Does this thing need to be said?

2. Does this thing need to be said BY ME?

Often, we are expected to speak. But often, we feel the need to speak and expect others to listen. THAT, is something not all people have in the world, and I feel extremely fortunate to have it. So, I will appreciate it deeply by being silent one day a week.