Be Still

I have three children. All three of them are adorable, affectionate, funny, and creative. And loud. They are so, so loud. There is not a shrinking violet in the bunch; not when we are home anyway. Last week I was telling one of my kids to talk in a quieter voice and she put both her hands on my cheeks and said, “THIS IS JUST MY VOICE MAMA. WE SHOULD PROBABLY GET USED TO IT.”

These last weeks and months have been filled with a lot of noise. And I don’t mean the kind of noise that is part of living in a home with three high-energy children, a spouse with ADHD, and a dog. (Though it really is something).

I mean the noise that sets heads and hearts spinning. It seems like it’s coming from everywhere: from radio, tv, people talking in line at the grocery store. It’s coming from flippant conversations with friends. It’s coming from the news, from social media, from podcasts.

And, if I am very honest, there is a lot of personal noise too. My schedule is busy; there are demands and expectations coming from all directions. There is so much I want to know about, experience, and do. But at some point, all of it stops meaning what it is supposed to mean and just becomes noise.

I know it’s not just me. I hear it from my friends and from my clients. I see it in the eyes of those around me. At the personal and societal level, there is just so much noise.

I have been feeling it lately. It’s been weighing on me heavily. I started this particular post about twenty times, trying to figure out what I want to say this week. I don’t usually do that. But all the turmoil and swirling and noise have me spinning in a way that feels wildly uncomfortable.

And so I thought about what I need to hear today. And it is this:

Be still.

Be quiet.

Pause.

I need to step away from the noise for a little bit; perhaps you do too. Some of the noise is unavoidable. Much of it is a necessary part of life. But there are ways that we can step away for a bit. There are ways that we can quiet ourselves and our world.

It feels like the season itself is inviting us to still and quiet. Today the sun rose at 6:42 and will set at 4:30. The shorter days, the falling leaves, the bare trees. They all seem to call us to more quiet, more still, more rest. We are nearing the season of Advent, a season of waiting and preparation. This year, I want to respond to the invitation to wait.

There will be a time when I feel like my call is to words and to action. I’ve been in that place before, and I will be there again.

But now, the call feels different.

Amid all the noise, I want to be a safe and peaceful presence. That’s what I want to offer all the noise and spinning, both in my heart and in the world. I want to be a force of peace and kindness and gentleness. And it needs to start inward and it needs to start small. In my heart, in my home, in my relationships.

For me, this will mean a few different things. I need to become very conscious of my social media consumption and involvement. I need to limit how much time I spend intentionally exposing myself to the noise, in all its various forms. I need to take more walks and more baths. I need to listen more, to the still small voice within and to the voices of the people I love. I need to give my kids more eye contact and more kisses. I need to breathe. I need to light candles. I need more time when I am only doing one thing at a time.

We need more quiet, even when there is noise all around us.

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