Silence Can Often Speak the Loudest

The power of quiet. I was struck by it the other day during my first camping trip in years. In the dark, back country wilderness of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, I kept finding myself saying, “Listen to that!” Not because there was anything to hear but because there was absolutely nothing; it was complete and total silence. It produced some of the clearest thinking I’ve experienced in years.

Coming back on the plane, the woman sitting next to me noticed that I was reading the new book about Hillary Clinton, “A Woman in Charge,” and asked me what I thought about it. That led to a brief discussion about modern politics and her lamenting the fact that it all seems like just noise coming from both sides, everyone pointing fingers and blaming each other while accomplishing nothing.

At the time, I didn’t completely agree or disagree with my fellow passenger but given the effect the silence of the campsite had just had on me, what she said wouldn’t go away, and I couldn’t help but wonder what less noise might mean to the political arena.

If folks just stopped talking for long enough to listen, maybe even to the other side, could that help move us forward? I have to think so.

In the current environment, those who haven’t voluntarily tuned out are literally bombarded daily. There are blog posts and e-mails and news stories and talk radio and press conferences and YouTube, and whether it’s CNN, Fox News or Comedy Central, talk, talk, talk.

What actually breaks through that cacophony, and how does anyone really make an intelligent decision about what they should care about and what they should believe? And how do our leaders find direction and new ideas if they have to constantly be concerned about the next sound bite?

Unfortunately, answers to those rather weighty questions eluded me in the silence of the wilderness; my mind was elsewhere. And, as a recovering windbag politician, it’s rather difficult to admit that perhaps less really could be so much more. But I think the time has come for all of us to at least think about it and perhaps start demanding a little more quiet from the political establishment, especially from candidates. If they’re not talking, there’s a much greater chance they might be listening and could actually tell us a lot more about themselves in the process.

My favorite story thus far from the young presidential campaign was told to me by a friend who attended a small Houston gathering for a Democratic candidate (who shall remain nameless). While the candidate was speaking, a woman fainted. The candidate noticed and commented on it but kept talking, even continuing after the paramedics arrived to provide assistance.

Was what he had to say really that important? Of course not, and he could have shown sincere compassion by simply thanking everyone and then making sure the woman was okay. But in today’s politics, everyone is deathly afraid of silence. They shouldn’t be. It might actually hold the answer.

(Originally published by Examiner Newspaper Group)