i was walking by washington square park on sunday and there was a group of quakers staging a silent vigil for peace.
and it was very moving. very powerful and loud, as odd as that might seem. odd in that 20 people standing still and silent could be so moving and powerful.
in some ways it makes sense, in that it creates such a marked juxtaposition with the 4 billion things in the world that are always yelling at us and trying to coerce us with volume.
so to have 20 simple people standing silently, not trying to coerce anyone, just standing silently in a witness for peace and nonviolence, it was very powerful. well, for me.
and it suddenly made me realize just how accustomed i’ve become to people yelling (literally and figuratively) at us, trying to get our attention. trying to get us to buy something or listen to such and such record or radio station or see such and such movie or notice such and such outfit or etc. we’re all being mercilessly wooed by a million suitors and in the loudest possible voice(s).
maybe we should just make our lives a little bit quieter (strange suggestion coming from someone who regularly puts on incredibly loud concerts, i know…).
but maybe we should shut out the cacophony for a little while. just to put it in perspective. what have we become accustomed to, and is it a good thing that we’ve become accustomed and inured (not ‘injured’, ‘inured’. ‘inured’ is a great word) to so many things?
maybe in the next 24 hours just notice how many things are trying to get your attention, advertisements (radio tv print billboards), tv personalities, cd covers, movie posters, loud clothing, employers, co-workers, etc.
no wonder we’re all exhausted. we’re constantly being loudly pursued by people and institutions that have no interest in our well-being but just want our attention and our money (and trust me, i know i’m not the first person to draw attention to this depressing phenomenon…).
some things vie for our attention and get shut out because they’re relatively quiet in the din. maybe if we shut out some of the loud things we might better hear the quiet things that actually deserve our attention.
eh, just a thought.
thanks,
moby
