Seeking Shooting Stars, Savoring Silence

This morning at 3:30 I went outside to sit in an Adirondack chair, thinking I would watch the Perseid meteor shower. Since the sky was a bit hazy, I saw not the dazzling display you might have seen from a more clear location, but just one, rather faint, shooting star.

So, it was a great chance to simply settle back and savor the silence of nature. Which, actually, of course, is full of sounds. 

The more deeply I sank in, the more rich the soundscape became.

Leaves on a bush rustling from the movement of a small creature.

Tree frogs singing.

Light chiming of the summer-low creek.

Low, rumbles from Hwy 99, miles away. 

I learned a few days ago that this process of opening up your hearing  to take in more is termed “expanding your auditory horizon.” Read more about this, audio ecology and a fascinating nonprofit organization, One Square Inch of Silence, that “promotes the preservation of quiet places — that is, places without human-made sounds.”

Silence is good for you! Click here to read a HuffPo article to learn 4 science-backed reasons why.

Click here to read 7 of my Favorite Power-of- Silence Quotes

Celebrating the silence and the sounds of this miraculous life,
Lea

PS Where do you savor silence? How does it benefit you?