The ‘Silent’ Gremlin:

Silence

13 Mar

T H E S O U N D O F N O T H I N G

Yes, yes, Gremlins, my head is in the clouds, and I’ve got nothing on my mind. Nope, I’m not daydreaming. After spending ten days in silence, I’m on a flight to Indonesia, and I’m thinking about what nothing is. (Oh, the irony)

On this quiet quest, I realised that there is a symbiosis between meditation and the artist’s way. The art of living = the living of art.

“There are two types of people those that speak to avoid the silence and those that speak to praise the silence,” I wrote in a poem this week dedicated to the ten days I spent on Vipassana.

But of course, it’s not that black and white. Us gremlins are complex creatures with many personalities, and so, at any given moment, we can go from being the one at peace with silence to the one agitated by it… and that’s OK. We are human.

And we can always begin again.

This was my second time sitting at Vipassana, which was very different from the first time I did it in 2019. This time, there was less emotional pain; I was at peace in the uncertainty, and time went quicker.

But don’t get me wrong, it was still hard. Sitting hours without moving is hard, fasting 20 hours is hard, and being without a phone or communication is hard.

But living with a mind that betrays my aspirations isn’t just hard. It’s self-torture. So I chose this.

The first time I did the course, it was about me discovering how memories, emotion & intuition live in the body and the connection between mind & body healing. This time it was less about recovery and more about creating.

Over the days when I got some moments to reflect, the parallels between the art of living and the living of art kept speaking to me. They tempted me and will probably, be the making of me.

Though I could go on and talk for hours about the discoveries I made, right now, it’s too fresh, and words are inadequate.

So instead, I’ll leave you with a poem I wrote.

IF YOU’VE LIVED IT
-Karimah

“If you’ve lived it, the least I can do is listen.”

The tongue whispered to the ear.

But the eye sensed another tale

Of an ear too immature to hear.

“You say you see,” said the eye to the ear

“But when you listen, are you receiving openly and clear?

There are two types of people, this you can’t deny.

There are those that speak to escape the silence.

And there are those that speak to praise the silence.

Some people listen to hear an echo of their world.

And some listen to see into a bigger world.”

Plans within plans

And eyes within ears

“To listen is both a weapon and a shield.

This is our free reign playing field.”

The tongue whispered to the ear.