Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sound of Silence








Yesterday Clint and I were discussing silence. A little later in the day I was reading an essay in a local publication on the topic of silence.  This essay was written by Stephanie Hunt about silence and her time spent in silence at the Mepkin Abbey.  I liked a quote from her essay:




   I am astonished at how amplified silence can be.




Later this morning,  a Facebook friend, Deborah, had shared  how touched she was by hearing Paul Simon playing and singing, The Sound of Silence, at a Ground Zero memorial for 9/11.  I had not heard the tribute and after I heard it, I decided to share it on here:






13 comments:

Clint said...

Silence. Silence. S-i-l-e-n-c-e......

I have always loved Paul Simon and I have always loved this song of his.

But I have never heard it sung with such deep meaning. I now see this song in a whole new light, with prophetic overtones.

Thank you for this most powerful blog post.

Shady Del Knight said...

Thanks for posting this clip, Cindy. This is the first time I saw it. Paul's song obviously resonated with people of all ages there at Ground Zero. I hadn't seen him for a number of years and it was shocking to see how old he looks. I guess I'm truly stuck in the 60s.

On the topic of silence, I saw a documentary a few weeks ago about how few places are left in the world where you can experience almost total darkness outdoors at night. Hundreds of years ago there were many such spots, but with the spread of development and advances in technology there are only a handful of remote locations remaining where it really gets dark. In other words darkness is on the endangered list and threatened with extinction just like many species of wildlife. Likewise, the number of locations that afford nearly total silence apart from the sounds of nature is dwindling. Even when we insulate our homes from street noise and consider our environment to be quiet there is the ever present white noise humming of electronics to consider. It could be asserted that total darkness and total silence can be experienced inside a sensory deprivation chamber, but in the absence of light and sound our minds manufacture images and create sounds and voices. I believe that darkness and silence are both essential to our well being and that many of the problems of the modern world are created or exacerbated by the clutter and chaos of "civilization."

Anonymous said...

Cindy, as you have already read, it takes a lot to bring me to tears. Sometimes I feel like I am already "cried out". Thank you for immortalizing this performance on your blog. It is worth revisiting & rethinking.

Deb

Leontien said...

I know a couple of more songs that are called "the sounds of silence" and they are as beautiful.

Thanks hope you have a great week
Leontien

Nova said...

I saw him singing this song on TV too...and having tears in my eyes.

Beautiful song and this song seems to be made for the day.

Franz said...

When I heard on TV I was moved
A beautiful tribute to the fallen of that tragic day.
A hugs for you and Clint!

Anonymous said...

Good Morning, Cindy!!

It is always a pleasure for me to come and visit you at your wondrous, inspirational site.
Thank you so much for reading my prayer, and posting your heartfelt comment, Cindy!!
Welcome Aboard to My New Journals Blog!!
September 11 will always be a Special Memorial Day in my heart of hearts, not only because what happened there, but also because I used to work there for many years...
The clip of Paul Simon at Ground Zero really moved me and brought me into tears. I am also stuck back in the 60's on my mind. It is quite depressing to see how the world turns with so much violence, noise, corruption and so on. The whole world is going crazy! To my own eyes, the old times were much better, and more quiet in all senses...
September 11 will always be a sad day for me...
I say a prayer for those who laid their lives at the World Trace Center in 9/11/2001.
If you wish to visit wonderful, inspirational Video-Poems with Music, I'll give you the Link to a Christian American Website, which is my personal poetical retreat. Poets have posted an exquisite Memorial Poem for those souls. The poem is called "9/11." The Link is:
http://www.openmyeyeslord.net
Some of my poems have been made into video-poems, and they are posted there...
God keeps blessing you, sweet Cindy!!
I admire your artistic talents.
Blessings,
Poet Starry Dawn.

Shelly said...

I was moved to tears when I saw the replay of his performance last night. Silence truly can speak volumes.

Sabine Gimm said...

Waht a wonderful impresstion.
Greetings Sabine

Karen Kyle Ericson said...

Thanks for sharing this Cindy. I hadn't heard it. I was across the bay when it happened and saw it. This song is very healing. Thanks!

Cindy Ellison said...

Dear blogger friends, thank you so much! I will get back to responding to your comments later today! ♥

Cindy Ellison said...

Whew! I am back, I had typed a long comment and once again, it was gone before I had a chance to "copy" it.

Shady, thank you once again for your thought provoking thoughts and facts. Speaking of "Sound of Silence", I always remember the song from one of the greatest movies ever, "The Graduate".

The documentary on darkness would be something of interest to me, I will Google it. It's hard to stargaze with all the lights around us. We were thinking of going to Marfa, TX, a while back and areas nearby just to do some serious stargazing. I was thinking of how dark it used to be at my grandparents' house, they lived in the country. The three mile drive home from their house was in total darkness. Now the entire road, a four-lane, is brightly lit with all the regular stores/fastfood/Walmart and similar stores. For some reason it seems like such a shorter trip now down that brightly lit road. I honestly wonder how long I could tolerate total silence. We had a "no speaking" time at a women' retreat I attended a few years ago. I have to admit it was a little uncomfortable. Back to noise, there is too much of it. Just think of those fake storm sounds at the grocery store produce section and the mooing cow sounds in the milk section with the background music/commercials going on, too! Too much for these tired old ears! Thank you, Shady!

Deb-It was so good to see you here. Thank you for your comment. I know Deborah, I feel like you sometimes, I am "cried out" too. I am so happy that Chad will be home sweet home, soon!

Leontien- It was so good to see your blog yesterday with the delicious sounding recipe. I am serious when I say I am going to make it. I want to share this recipe with my sister, too.

It's interesting that you know some other "sounds of silence" songs, they are probably from your country. You know we are all thinking of you and praying for you.

♥ Love,
Cindy

Petra- Yes, that song sure was moving that was sung. Hope your week is going well. I need to hop over and "see" you. Take care ... and thank you for stoppy by!

Franz- Thank you for stopping by! Long time, no see! I saw the beautiful vacation/holiday photos on your blog. I loved the views and the blue water, I am a water lover! I was not able to get my comment to go through, sorry, I will try again. I look forward to seeing your next new painting!

Starry Dawn- What special and meaningful thoughts you shared. I do feel many things were better years ago, one thing being manners. So many things, too many to list! I wrote down the website you listed and will check it out. It would be fun to see your work on there. Hope things are going well with you and your husband. Thank you, Starry Dawn, for your sweet compliments! ♥

Cindy Ellison said...

Shelly- Hope you are having a good week. I was thinking of the first time I visited your blog and what an inspiration you were and ARE to me! I was thinking of you today when I was working out. I'm making progress! It hurts like heck sometimes but I am determined to make it part of my life.

Thank you, Shelly, for taking the time to stop by my blog.

Sabine- It was so good to see you! Hope you are doing well. I stopped by your blog today. The kraut dish you posted looked so delicious, I would love to have that for dinner TONIGHT! Thank you, Sabine, many blessings to you!

Karen- I can only imagine what it would be like, being a witness to the tragedy of 9/11. I suppose you could not believe your eyes, that it was a bad dream. Several years ago Clint and I drove by the site, I remember the huge gaping hole under the building/buildings.

What colorful mushrooms you have! The picture was beautiful. Mushrooms are mysterious plants to me, you never know when they are gonna pop up! We had some in our yard here not long ago, dull colors though. Keep up the great work, Karen! Thank You!