Week 2: Silence

Silence is simply put, the act of not making noise. In being a moral virtue though, silence does not simply mean being “mute”, but rather, not engaging in trifling conversations, and not talking just to talk. It prevents certain ailments from bringing itself to the forefront, most notably diarrhea of the mouth, where you just talk and talk on and on about the most trivial and useless things imaginable. Let’s examine the various pillars in which I succeeded and failed in pursuing the moral virtue of “silence”.

Gossip: The amount of gossip and small talk I engaged in this week was slightly less than prior weeks, but that was only because I was preoccupied studying for the CSETs on Saturday. At the same time, I admit I could always improve internally in my efforts to avoid talking about other people, and instead try to have deeper conversations, perhaps about the meaning of life or other philosophical questions, such as if the one exists or not (it doesn’t).

Socializing: I refrained from socializing too much this week mostly because of the fact that I had the not-so-sudden realization that my CSETS were this Saturday. At the same time, I tried to make conversations with people as intimate or deep as possible (having one on one adventures with Andy, Jerick, Kim, Amy, etc.). I also tried refraining myself from dominating the conversation in group environments during the week, helping to ensure everyone had an equal opportunity to speak. At the same time socializing often entailed silence whenever we watched shows together (such as Adventuretime). Refer to said weekly planner below, where I seperated the activities I did “in silence”, with the activities I did with “others” [as denoted under the Shh! section of the day].

Anaheim Achieves: But, of course, there is the reality that I went to work this week, and I wasn’t going to simply not talk to the students. I tried my best to speak and say only useful things to them this week however. These two girls came up to me saying they were glad to see me, and at the same time sad because boys had either stood them up or mistreated them. I relayed to them that they are way too young to be worrying about relationships, and should focus on other positive aspects of their life. At the same time I tried to encourage a pregnant student to make sure she does whatever it takes to graduate and care for her kid. In that arena, she needs to not only start thinking about her future, but her future kid’s future as well. Whatever the case, I think I did an effective job of only telling them things that would help them in the future, rather than just gossiping with the students.

@ Home: The obvious silent activity of the week is studying. At the same time, I watched various shows at home in silence – namely the first season of Downton Abbey, and a rewatch of Prison Break.

Reading: And finally, I engaged in a “hobby” I haven’t really done in years, reading. I never really noticed the serenity that comes with reading a novel, mostly because I was always stressed in school reading “required novels” designated by either the state, the school, or the teacher. In intertwining my need to be in “silence”, with my need to socialize I went to Huntington Beach Library for the sole purpose of reading. If there’s one place that denotes and symbolizes “silence” better than anything else, it’s definitely the library. It was a relatively nice library as seen below.

As I stared out into the distance, I felt a calming sense of peace and serenity from within.

Afterwards, I went to Garden Grove library to continue my adventures, of reading “The History of Love”, and one of my personal favorites, The Great Gatsby, which comes out as a movie this summer!

I thoroughly enjoyed both books which I woke up at 8am on Sunday to finish.

The End Result: I give myself a B. Even though I still engaged in gossip this week with my peers, I limited my interactions as best as I could, striking more direct conversations, and giving better advice at Loara High School. I also engaged in “silent” activities which gave me a sense of inner peace.

The Take Away: This week didn’t make me a quieter person, but it made me think more about the words I say, and how much of an impact they have on the world around me. I will continue to try to stay positive and say as few trivial things as possible (At the same time that’s not going to prevent me from joking around on occassion though). The best thing I can take away from this week is my desire to read more, learn more, and become more. In reading more I hope to not only gain inner knowledge, but get that inner peace from the satisfaction of reading novels as I did the Great Gatsby. I already started borrowing more books from my friends in the process (PERKS!), and even renewed my library card in the prospect of going back either next week or in the coming weeks.

Next Week’s Moral: Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time