noise

When Quiet is Loud

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The last of the holiday guests
(grown children, their children,
and one new dog)
have just driven away, headed home.
There are sheets to wash,
floors to sweep,
leftovers to freeze,
gift boxes to put in the recycle,
but I sit down in my comfy chair
and simply listen.
I don’t want to miss this moment,
for it comes only once a year,
this moment when quiet is loud,
thick as dense fog,
and heavy from holding so much weight—
lots of laughter,
a few tears,
the eager energy of children,
the willing weariness of grownups,
newly made memories,
hopes for the future.
I take this time
(for silence this deep demands time)
to absorb it into my heart,
knowing I will carry this quiet
like a treasure.
I breathe into the absence of noise,
let it breathe itself into me,
let it thrum like a pulse.
A jet flies over.
A neighbor starts his leaf blower.
Birdsong breaks through.
There are sheets to wash,
floors to sweep,
leftovers to freeze,
gift boxes to put in the recycle,
and a rich quietness
to carry into a new year.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:


Shadow of the week:

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Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.

Bugs and Birdsong

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Listen.

Listen past the noise

to softer sounds.

Wind, water,

bugs, birdsong,

a church bell, a distant train.

Listen

to your own deep breath

drifting in and out.

Listen as the sounds of peace

calm your soul.

– kh –

Linger: 365 Days of Peaceful Pauses

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

 

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2022 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Quietly and Clearly

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“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others.”

– Max Ehrmann, “Desiderata” –

 

Curious about the word placid, I looked it up and found that it means “serenely free of disturbance.” That’s what “carry the calm” means to me: It’s possible to make our way through noise and haste with our souls serenely free of disturbance.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

 

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2021 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

A Place of Inner Peace

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Here’s a riddle for you:

What’s so fragile that you can break it by just saying its name?

(The answer follows this next quote.)

 

“In a world of noise, confusion and conflict,

it is necessary that there is a place of inner silence and peace,

not the peace of mere relaxation

but the peace of inner clarity and love.”

– Thomas Merton –

 

The answer to the riddle is:

Silence.

 

Wishing you the inner silence of peace, clarity, and love.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Text and photos © 2021 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Can You Hear an Inch of Silence?

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“Quiet is not an absence of sound but an absence of noise.”

– Gordon Hempton –

 Treat yourself to 5 minutes of nature’s soundscape in a peaceful inch of the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park, identified as the “quietest place in the United States.” From that page you can link  to other sounds recorded by Hempton, a sound recording specialist and acoustical ecologist. Enjoy!

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – acorns and leaves on January ground:

Shadow of the Week:

P.S. If you’ve never been to the Hoh Rainforest, place it on your bucket list. Hiking its mossy trails is like stepping into a fantasy world. It’s a habitat for banana slugs, which secrete a slime that has an anesthetizing effect. A park ranger held one across her palm and asked if anyone wanted to lick it. My older son did – and did. With no ill effects. Except an anesthetized tongue.

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each week, simply sign up on the right.

For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.

 

Ancient Light

 

Text and photos © 2017 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.