In a world
of hustle and bustle, silence seems like a reduction in man- made noise: no car
engines or buses or motorbikes, no horns or music blaring, no screaming
children or adults, no loud talking on cell phones. When these are all reduced
we say that it is quiet when actually there are probably still a lot of sounds
around: insects buzzing, birds singing, wind blowing, rain splattering, waves
crashing. We often find these sounds soothing and relaxing.
Whether in
the midst of man-made or natural sounds, the sounds most difficult to block out
are those within our own minds. For many of us there is a running commentary
continuously playing in our head and this is the most difficult place to find
silence. And yet there is no true silence without the ability to interrupt the
monologue in our mind.
In this
quilt I have attempted to convey the idea of inner silence. The bohdi leaf
represents the spirit which is floating noiselessly on the surface of a pond,
perhaps a meditation image to focus on when seeking inner silence.
