SILENT RETREAT

A threatening phone call and a personal ban on social media have somehow propelled me into a different, yet familiar plane — one of stillness and contemplation.

Left alone with my thoughts, with few distractions (after work obligations), the initial unease dissipates into something I once pursued through meditation — a sweet, nurturing silence.

It’s through this silence that intuition heightens, and clarity comes. The quiet is a delicate thread that connects to another kind of network, one that meets us where we are yet transcends our ordinary experience.

Here, we listen to the hushed language of the spirit. Instead of drama and chaos, it brings focus, perception, and understanding.

I had forgotten what it’s like to close my eyes and sit quietly, observing my thoughts as if I were a passenger on a train. I had forgotten that before instant gratification and endless knowledge, there were daydreams, wonder, and surprise. 

I had forgotten what it’s like to not live as a piece of content — chasing likes and comments, seeking approval and facing judgment.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence these events happened when I desire complete surrender to the flow. I’m in the midst of a first draft, cultivating a receptive state to catch ideas and give them fertile ground to grow. 

For now, in this off-brand fortress of solitude, my mind can wander freely, uninfluenced by an algorithm taking me places I never wanted to go.

It’s likely that one day, I’ll need that algorithm for my own designs. And without social media, these words sit lonely on a Squarespace shingle.

But the right readers will find them — they always do.