Silentium, Silentium

Silent. Silence.

Silence is the relative or total lack of audible sound or the absence of communication.

I wonder: Isn’t silence one of the mightiest and most communicative forms of expression we have at hand?

I am fairly convinced that the deprivation of words can communicate just as much as a sermon of syllables – in case the mute person manages to use silence as a sonorous weapon.

To be perceptible, silence must be rich in undertones, that tend to resonate louder than an explicitly uttered opinion.

Silence must be coloured with a dozen shades that one after the other return into the recipient’s ears like a boomerang due to the margin for interpretation.

It cannot be denied that even words can mean anything and nothing despite their formal definition and depending on their packaging, and we must not disregard the human ability to lie and tell the untruth at this point either; but whereas the verbal expression can trigger a dialogue, silence cannot be answered but simply mirrored and returned – which is not in the least as rewarding as a checkmate argument that brings your opponent to his or her knees.

For me personally, silence is inevitably linked to either deadlocks or grey areas and transitional periods, to “in betweens” and “either/ors” and as such to not particularly appealing situations. When I lose my tongue, I have either nothing to say or I cannot talk about a certain “either/or”-matter due to the fact that I or Miss Fortuna and her fateful friends haven’t come to a decision yet.

Recently I stumbled across a line in a song that said: “Big questions need small answers. Yes. Or No.” So, when I fall silent I am most probably arm wrestling with a big question. The challenge trophy: A choice.

And since making choices is an excruciating condition – at least for me – I tend to retreat into a state of mind that allows no words.

So I must say that silence is far more than just the lack of audible sound, silence can be louder than a thunder and more painful than a thousand decibel.

"If you do not understand my Silence, how will you understand my Words." ~ Author Unknown