31 Comments

I agree to the extreme nuisance of constant noise pollution. At all levels.

For the reasons already mentioned by others.

Like the constant “doing” and “making” and buzzing.

As if we’ve grown afraid of silence and uncomfortable with having time on our hands.

I often flee into the nature, do gardening on my terrace or just turn off the radio, put my iPhone on mute or whatever.

Silence gets my pulse down, re-centre me and gives me peace.

I’m sure silence has a healing power. Like nature.

In conversations and exchanges in general wether written or verbal, silence can be so loud and say so much more than words. A powerful weapon not to be underestimated.

Or a chance to better “hear” what your interlocutor is saying or would perhaps say.

Silence is a substance many people dread. A breech in the flow of conversation.

To be able to interpret a silence in the course of a conversation -wether a breech or a lead- is a precious ability.

There is this song by “I don’t recall who” going : “You say it best, when you say nothing at all”.

Just saying

Expand full comment
author

It's Cliff Richard: When You Say Nothing at All. He also sings: Without saying a word you can light up the dark. One 'party' trick in making a speech in public is to stop speaking in mid flow. It often makes people stop chatting and sit up to check out what's happening.

Expand full comment

Very à propos Cliff Richard also signed “We don’t talk anymore “ 🤔 we might not have invented the hot soup as the French saying goes 🤣

Can’t seem to find the first one by Cliff Richard. I’ll keep on searching !

Expand full comment

They’re both very special evergreens . I have Ronan Keating singing them too on my feel good playlist even without consulting Jennifer Buchannon😄

This trick is an old timer when you teach too and I sometimes used it with my 3 kids at the dinner table when they had gone too far in their hilarious babbling to listen up 🤗

Expand full comment
author

Hurray for @Jennifer right? https://www.minterdial.com/2021/12/jennifer-buchanan/

Expand full comment

That how I found her. I actually simply “stole”

-borrowed- her from you 🙏

What a blissful change of pace, subject and ideas for this Friday night.

Thank you Minter !

Now back to Ukraine and cooking : slow cooking cod, spinach, garlic, olives, white wine….and my daily 5-7 🤣 well, actually 6-8:30 :

La Cinq is very good : C’est dans l’air followed by C’est à Vous . Thorough, listening, bienveillant…

Have the nicest weekend possible.

Expand full comment
author

A heavenly recipe

Expand full comment

A healthy one that will last for two days. Cooking is not my favorite activity.

Just listens to the cowbells : won’t work for me, it made me giggle 🤗😂🤗 But then again I fall asleep like a baby and do my 7-8 hours in a row.

I love that!!!!

It’s only been like that for a couple of years so I really appreciate!

And I’m lucky to live in a place where there’s absolutely no noise 🙏🙏🙏

Expand full comment

I’ll cook for you next time you’re in Nice 😄 Now back to cyberattacks, nuclear stuff, military strategy…

Expand full comment
author

LOVE IT! Proof that we can borrow from one metier/moment to another!

Expand full comment

Found the Cliff Richard edition.

And thought of another example of the warm tickling feeling: An intimate candle light concert deep in the winter at Saint Martin in the Fields : Beethoven, Mozart, Bach or Vivaldi…

Connecting the dots in time and space , that’s what we’re good at 🤗

Expand full comment
author

😻 ooh yes.

Expand full comment

I just tried both out of the blue : it works 🙏

There’s even a Keith Whitley edition. Little too country in you’re not sitting behind a wheel or on a horse working your way through Montana 🤗

Expand full comment
Mar 4, 2022Liked by Minter Dial

Oh, yes, the power of silence I feel helps develop stronger relationships by discerning day’s events, feelings, etc. I often find solutions and understandings come to mind with ease.

Expand full comment
author

I read: in the silence, we listen and learn more.

Expand full comment
Mar 6, 2022Liked by Minter Dial

Yes

Expand full comment
Feb 25, 2022Liked by Minter Dial

Noise pollution is a constant in modern society: shops with music, waiting lounge with TV on, more importantly our choice, how many people walk, take public transportation with earphones? I have to take a conscious decision to stop a podcast or music to concentrate on reading a document with total attention, or writing , etc... although some people are very good at multi tasking.

Expand full comment
author

Indeed. It seems we must make a conscious effort to let silence and reflection enter our lives. I think multi tasking is incompatible with meaningful conversation.

Expand full comment
founding
Feb 24, 2022Liked by Minter Dial

Yes absolutely! And, to try and add something, I believe in staring at trees (we do not live near water...).

Expand full comment
author

I love that idea. The pleasure to soak in Nature, Charlie! Nature can surely talk to us! :)

Expand full comment
author

I read recently about research by the University of Kentucky that studied the acoustic properties of snow and found it absorbs up to 60% of sound. It turns out that the feeling of serenity and calm that comes from snowy environments is real—driven by so much quiet. Of course, that assumes you deal with the associated cold.

Expand full comment