“Speak only if it improves upon the silence.” – Mahatma Gandhi
I cannot improve the silence, Gandhi.
I have spent some time silent. I have spent time speaking. I have spoken long spells as a fool.
Dare I contradict the man, Gandhi? When I read his words, I feel humbled and silent. That is good.
But I also know that silence sometimes is haughty – safe – stagnant.
Sometimes silence is like holding toxins in the body. Sometimes words are the messengers of incorrect thoughts showing up like pimples needing to come to the surface to be seen, expunged, healed.
I hear the narrator from “The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (by T.S. Eliot) in my head:
“That is not what I meant at all.
That is not it, at all…”
When I brag like a peacock. When I make a joke that hurts someone. When I start expounding about something I know nothing about as if I know. When I take over and cut others out.
“Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.”
I do disturb the universe because this is part of the path I’ve chosen – To use my life, words, mistakes as a mirror. I love the peacock in his display; it is beautiful and daring.
It is easy to hate the pimple, turn away from the ugly but my weakness is loved; it is okay to say the wrong thing.
And by allowing myself to participate in this life, I learn.
And more and more words become less like pimples and more like flowers from some magical garden of the ineffable. I become a clearer vessel for the words that are not my own. The flowers that appear from words can only blossom because I dared to allow myself space and love to reveal the words that needed to be released.
Life as Improv 
And by allowing myself to participate in this life, I learn.
This s a wonderful line.
Thank you, wj. Sometimes takes me a whole lot of words to get to the crux 🙂
And you did….excellent
🙂 thank you, retro, for sharing this. I think a weekly remind is needed for ME.
Grrrr. Not retro. I’m so sorry, Marga. 😦
no sorry – so perfect – actually. Your “mistake” is actually right on, I am retro today…I posted Pink Floyd! Thank you for playing with me in this word soup!
🙂
putting all the mind’s “idiocy” on external speaker is one of the best ways of seeing it clearly as idiocy. Been doing it for years. Fortunately Don is a good listener. It gets stuff all cleared out. With the intention to write the word Don it was actually the word God that came to mind. God’s a good listener too:)
My mother used to let things just hang in the air, and one time I remember as a teen saying, “I just said something stupid, and you didn’t correct me,” and she said, “sometimes you just got to hear it outside of your own mind to realize you don’t really think that.” Having a Don or a God:) who understands that process is such a gift! You warm my heart!
And you mine ❤
Yes, Don and God both huge gifts. Very blessed.
Your mother sounds very wise.
xoxox
To Speak or not to Speak — to know when to use words or remain silent = discernment. I have been sorely lacking in that skill, i’m afraid. Still, to remain silent as a means of never offending leads to stagnation, as you say. Thanks for this wonderful reminder for me who often just lets the words come out without thinking of whether or not “silence will be improved.” I have heard that as we humans become more telepathic, much of this will become self-correcting. ☺ Blessings and Love, Alia
Telepathy will clear things up tremendously ! I am imagining a party in the future full of smiles, music, and internal conversing 🙂 I’ll meet you there. x!marga
Wonderful vision Marga!!! I’ll be sure to make that one. May have to use that idea in Aurora — maybe I already have. Blessings, Alia