and there are kinds and grades of each.
There is the dumb silence of slumber or apathy;
the sober silence that goes with a solemn animal face;
the fertile silence of awareness,
pasturing the soul,
whence emerge new thoughts;
the alive silence of alert perception, ready to say, “This… this…”;
the musical silence that accompanies absorbed activity;
the silence of listening to another speak, catching the drift and helping him be clear;
the noisy silence of resentment and self-recrimination,
loud and sub-vocal speech but sullen to say it;
baffled silence;
the silence of peaceful accord with other persons or communion with the cosmos."
Paul Goodman in Speaking and Language
Without it I lose openness;
ideas are crowded out with busy thoughts;
my inner self cannot be heard;
I am unable to contemplate or reflect;
I do not let conversations begin with materials or processes;
I ignore the completed product.
I seek and befriend silence.