Acquaintance

Getting acquainted with silence with someone is different.

Of course, my brain will think of a bunch of scenarios, as it always does, and I have to remind it that no one thinks of me as much as I think of myself.

It quickly snaps out of the visual and verbal loop it has trapped itself in.

In that moment, I realize how much more I can enjoy silence.

I don’t need to speak.

It’s as if I’m required to experience this new way of shared being.

I don’t have to cook up a conversation.

I can just sit, enjoy the silence, and get to know the other person through the silence that we both share and cherish. I’m reminded that there’s more to silence than silence.

There is more to moments than spoken words. I can just sit in silence, enjoy it with someone else, without a genius question to ignite conversation.

We are conversation within the silence.

It’s not loud, nor is it pretentious.

It’s not full of laughter, nor is it flavorful.

Silence is just being with the other—just like silence is with the other that is you.

It’s drifting away with someone to a place with no words.

A place with a different kind of excitement—an excitement that is calm and embracing.

It’s like I’m learning to talk to someone in a different language—in a language we both didn’t know existed. I can just sit and be with someone, with no pressure to exchange something. We’re just exchanging parts of ourselves that feel like home.

It feels like we’re being hugged by love we both deeply relate to.