Is "Silence Golden"?

Katherine Press would like to welcome Sarah Jones as our first guest Blogger.

Is “Silence Golden”?  With the price of gold at an all time high, has the commodity of silence increased in value too?  Is it such a rarity that we have to seek it out?  The world continues to flash, beep, and scream around me.  Each place I go seems to provide the environment necessary to fill the air with the cacophony of busyness.  I was in the Mecca of developing minds today, Toys ‘R Us.  The attack on my senses was overwhelming-flashing lights, dancing stuffed animals, animated voices singing classic children’s tunes in their electronic cadence.  All these amusements cued up by small impulsive hands and then left, sadly, seconds later when the hands seek a new distraction.  I find myself in fight or flight mode standing bewildered in the aisles of this microcosm of the future.  I decide to leave the store lest my mind transitions to “fight” mode and I become the YouTube sensation of a woman losing it in Toys ‘R Us.  No doubt, a ten year old would whip out his/her phone to record my meltdown and post it with a link in the margins for a cat attacking the same toy I had taken my wrath out against.  It is a challenge and an oddity to be in silence.  I encourage everyone to take 10 minutes and sit without television, radio, computers, or conversation blaring in the background.  The feeling is disarming, yet precious, like gold.  You may find that the value of your time has just gone up. 

Sarah Jones