Walking into Silence

We are forever writing our inner commentaries on everything, commentaries that always reach the same practiced conclusions

In the beginning of my walks silence only broke through in patches. Although the forests and fields were free of human noise my own thoughts and worries still crowded in. Most of my thinking in the early stages was repetitive and circling back on itself. Richard Rohr captures this bind when he writes that “we are forever writing our inner commentaries on everything, commentaries that always reach the same practiced conclusions.”

The steep ascents and descents focused my mind on my feet and legs, and on the rock strewn or muddy path. Birds called me out of blindness to my surroundings whenever I threw myself down on my pack to rest. Exhaustion shattered my rationality. Silence won through in the end. The long daily walks worked like meditation for me, quieting my mind and allowing me to spiral down into silence and inner stillness.