Sshhh… Stay Silent
If you are reading this article, let’s experience the next ten-seconds of silence — One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten. I hope you did not just speed through the counting ;)
Apparently, the average Joe gets frustrated after 16 seconds waiting for a webpage to load, and 25 seconds for the traffic lights to turn on. Nowadays, in the age of TikTok and SnapChat, everyone is so busy expressing themselves before truly understanding themselves in the first place. I am also guilty in that regard.
Well, what can we do, right? Things are so fast paced nowadays, if FTX can lose 16 billion overnight, why shouldn’t we post on Snap to get our streaks? Or DM people on insta? It seems so natural for us to be on the move all the time, twitching our thumbs, and raising our eyes. But, in my opinion, it just seems so unnatural.
Again, don’t mistake me for this mystical saint telling you to follow this meditation routine or do this yoga pose. All I am saying is, stay silent for a few minutes during the day. Sometimes not doing anything can be the best thing for you. On a more extreme note, the modern day addiction is no longer alcohol or drugs. But, rather dopamine. For those of you who don’t know, dopamine is this chemical neurotransmitter that gets released between 2 neurons within your brain. Every time you scroll that thumb or hit that like button, your brain gets a fresh dose of dopamine. It is because of this abundant release of dopamine, we see a hive of activity in your brain as you go about your life.
I am not saying quit social media or stop working. All I am saying is, give your mind a break. Go for long walks, experience silence in your life. You are not going to lose anything in silence. In fact you gain a lot in introspection and stillness (At least that’s what I’ve observed in my life and that’s what the major religions and philosophies tell us as well).
I am not really sure where this stigma for silence comes from. Perhaps its from the zero-sum attitude that people have: thinking that they’ll fall behind in the rat race if they don’t engage themselves. Or perhaps we feel that we get more happiness by participating. What do you think? Where do you think the energy within you stems from?
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