As I descended into the shadowy forest, beams of light pierced the dark green of the fir and spruce trees as the sun illuminated low clouds hugging the high elevation. I stopped to take it in, to breathe in the wonder. Two hikers behind me, that had been mindlessly chattering and chittering, came up behind me and I actually shushed them. Not an aggressive ‘SHUSH’ but a gentle reminder that we were standing in a sacred moment.

They gasped and stopped to behold the wonder. How could anyone be oblivious to such powerful beauty? I guess this is why I prefer to hike alone and space myself away from others, especially those that never just ‘shut the heck up.’ 

My tolerance for noise goes down as I open to the gifts that silence brings me. And it’s not just talking or human-created noises, it’s background sounds like email and text pings…like the person in an astronomy club meeting last night that never silenced their phone. All through the program…ping…ping…ping…ping…ping…ping….ping. 

Interestingly enough, the program was on silence…a quiet zone. I am laughing out loud as I type this…ping….ping….ping went the cell phone as the film focused on a huge quiet zone. 

The Greenbank Observatory was the subject of the film.  The small community of people that live around it agree to no cell phone usage, no wify (wired ethernet is okay), bluetooth, or anything that would interfere with the world’s largest movable radio telescope. I was fascinated how much support the observatory has from the West Virginia community, even when they must maintain a quiet zone of 13,000 square miles. That’s 10 miles around the telescopes or about 107 miles wide and 120 miles long.

When is the last time you stepped outside the noise of your life? Do you remember the quiet at the center of your being? 

As our small group discussion about the film ended, the conclusion I drew? As humans, we are like the radio telescopes. We need silence to function properly. Why? We need to re-learn how to listen. To our hearts, to Nature, to the pulse of life beating within us. 

How can you create a quiet zone in your life? How does doing this create more space in your life?