Silence Isn't Always Golden

I published Power of the Flowers for the first time in March 2017.  For months leading up to the date on which the website went live, I read and I wrote and I gathered information I thought would be useful to others. From the moment I conceived of Power of the Flowers, not a day passed that I didn’t think about ways to present new material, or how to effectively convey constructive messages. Somewhere within me, as the idea took shape, an echo began.  BSR – beauty, strength, resilience – reverberated consistently in my head.  Even when people questioned me, when my goals were challenged, I kept pushing on.  

Then, earlier this year, the echo faded.  

It wasn’t one event that caused the echo to fade.  Rather, it was a myriad of events that kept shushing my voice.

COVID-19 crossed our great oceans and landed on our shores.  In droves, people fell ill.  shush  Schools closed temporarily in March.   shush   The nation shut down, as did the schools for the remainder of the spring term.  shush  We were told to stay home  - - don’t go to work, don’t go to stores, don’t go out for a meal - - for a few days…for a month…for two months.  shush   Restrictions rose daily with the sun.  Don’t wear a mask.  shush  Wear a mask.  shush  Wear gloves.  shush   Don’t wear gloves.  shush   Stay 6 feet apart.  shush   Wash your hands.  shush  Cough into your arm.  shush  Don’t visit the elderly.  shush  Don’t congregate.  shush  

Through the delivery of these messages, the fear gremlin crept out of the darkness.  Having worked so hard to keep those fragile plates spinning on the top of those remarkably thin sticks, the loss of worldwide momentum caused each plate to come crashing down.  Outside our front doors, the economy screeched to a halt.  Jobs ran dry.  People were laid off.  Bills piled up.  Stress mounted daily.  Frustration boiled over and people acted out.  

Historically, in circumstances raft with frustration, when the words on my lips have not been constructive, my brain has reasoned my mouth into silence. Some might say that I properly embraced the notion that “silence is golden.”  However, not every moment of frustration requires silence.  Not every moment of frustration triggers a poor thought process.  In fact, I think we have reached the moment where silence is no longer golden.  We have reached the moment when we need our words to reverberate loudly.  

Translation of the Swiss German phrase “sprecfien ist silbern, schweigen ist golden” is attributed to English author Thomas Carlyle.  Although the verbatim translation is “speech is silvern, silence is golden,”  Carlyle thought the better translation was “speech is of time, silence is of eternity.” 

Eternal silence will not trigger change.  Eternal silence does not combat the fear gremlin and the powers that shush us.  However, reasoned opinions stated clearly and loudly will trigger change.  

I can already hear you.  And, once again, I can hear myself.   

Now, let’s make sure everyone else hears us.  

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