The Sound of Silence

My firstborn went off to college this week. Confidently making her way into her new world, while leaving us behind to discover our own. Oh how I miss her. Luckily, we've all been partly broken in over here by her having taken a gap year last year to travel.  But still, there is something more permanent about her leaving this time. Something a little more, I don’t know what…I guess it’s just sadness.

It strikes me how quickly the child rearing years pass by. I wish I could  have young ones around me forever.

I finally read the wonderful Eat, Pray, Love when she was away this past year and just saw the movie which I didn’t have high expectations for but ended up liking- especially the gorgeous cinematography and many of the very profound messages, particularly about letting ourselves experience the quiet in our lives, the silence. I especially like this quote from the author, Elizabeth Gilbert:

“The resting place of the mind is the heart. The only thing the mind hears all day is clanging bells and noise and argument, and all it wants is quietude. The only place the mind will ever find peace is inside the silence of the heart. That's where you need to go.”

If your life is suddenly feeling quieter because you just dropped a child off at school you might enjoy what I think is a great story on the subject titled The Bridge, written by fabric designer & writer Anna Maria Horner.  Thank you to Cathy for sending this in.

Also, below is a clip of Simon and Garfunkel singing The Sound of Silence at the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert in Madison Square Garden this past October.