It is Spring Break a.k.a. reading for fun time (as well as supposedly getting ahead on homework). The book that I have been recently devouring is A Book of Silence by Sara Maitland. It is listed under philosophy/spirituality, but I was drawn towards it simply because it is creative nonfiction.

As the title suggests, Maitland discusses silence. She brings the reader through her experience of silence in first the Isle of Skye and then the Scottish hills and the Sinai desert. Her book is exactly the kind of creative nonfiction that I want to write: one that relates personal experience while simultaneously drawing from history, literature, and philosophy.

Her discovery of silence, especially when she is on Skye, is beautifully relayed and all encompassing. That is, she described the good as well as bad (in fact, there is a whole chapter entitled “The Dark Side”). In all honesty, I felt a bit jealous of her. I have become extremely aware of all the chatter and noise around me, so much so that I’ve become irrationally irritated at those who are contributing to the noise.

As she pointed out, there is no such thing as complete silence. I am not currently listening to music and my roommate in the apartment is keeping to herself right now, but even so, I can hear the fridge, the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard, and every once in a while my feet or my bones somewhere else in my body make a noise as I fidget. It’s funny that I call that silence.

I know full well that since I am a student and I have definite plans for a least my near future, I cannot suddenly become a hermit. Instead, I can make room for silence. I have already made two moves toward doing so: I uninstalled Facebook on my phone and I removed Pandora. And when I drive to church for the Maundy Thursday service this evening, the radio will not be turned on. It will not be the kind of silence that will drive me crazy (which has happened), but it will be the silence that keeps me whole and hopefully sane.