Is silence golden?

Most of us are frightened of silence. We get lose in mind wanderings. It’s a western phenomenon. Silence to us is akin to being alone. We shun silence out of fear. To be one with yourself you need silence. It goes hand in hand with my belief of Yin Yang. Too much of anything is bad. Noise for instance. If there were no spaces (silences) in our life, we would accomplish every little of worth. Superficial things don’t take much thought, so noise can be tolerated. When exploring your inner self, noise is a distraction and cannot be tolerated. At least if you expect to understand what you are learning. There are countless studies that show we are not hard wired to multitask. For those who still believe this is true in this fast paces world, I have startling news for you. YOU CAN’T! It has been proven that our brain can only concentrate on one thing at a time. I won’t go into the physics here and bore everyone. Silence is golden is not just a phrase. It’s a way to live; a way to see into our soul. It gives you a time to regroup; to put aside the “noises” in our life and focus. Art gives me the silence I need, not only to create, but also to put things right if only temporarily. Balance in life is essential. There is time for noise but there needs to also be times for silence.

What a subject! Wow. Silence is my friend, but, like good friends, it doesn’t impose itself on me. So, imposing silence upon myself isn’t a nice thing to do…but I do choose silence so I can hear the music of the painting process..the scratching sound, the wipings of brushes, clinks of glass jars, the easel, my feet on the floor. It’s music, not silence. Myself humming. Myself cussing the paint that got on the rug. The wind outside. Or nothing. Or Bach. I do not like interruptions. Even interruptions of silence imposing itself on me. It can be the death of a painting if it comes just when a new surge of solutions are appearing. But do I listen to see if I am talking while I am painting? NO NO NO…I am painting, not monitoring the silence!! Do I think I will die if someone comes to the door? NO NO NO, this is part of the music. I’m painting now, I tell them nicely. They will come back. Good. Concentrating on such things as “emptying the mind” or “studying the breathing” is good for me, but it is not something I want interrupting my painting.

There may be some truth to the “use it or lose it” of speech, at least for a handful of us. In the one year between two different cognitives tests that I took, I had 3 semesters of design and art classes, and a lot of studio time. The second test showed a marked improvement in my visual processing skills, and the development of both expressive language and verbal memory deficits. Seems my right brain robbed from my left to get better. Given, I’m both autistic and suffer from an extremely rare form of migraines, so my problems are likely unique to me. However, I wouldn’t trade the joy of my creativity for anything.

I had no problem getting as much silence as I needed until my husband retired, since then I’ve readjusted my working hours to spend a little time with him, and we’ve got family randomly calling in now and then – as a result, I crave silence at times, or at least the knowledge that a certain part of the day will be uninterrupted. It’s hard to tell people to be quiet or not call in, and although it’s taken a long while, they all seem to be a bit more understanding. As a result, the hours after 6pm and until 2-3am are my most peaceful & productive hours for work. Not ideal, but a compromise. I can do other work related things such as photography/editing, varnishing etc earlier in the day. Because I’m just clearing up and going to bed after working for a long stretch, I don’t need to talk with anyone apart from saying goodnight to the dogs. While I’m working, I’ll now and then take a break for a few minutes to answer an email or read one, watch a bit of TV news etc. I can even have the TV news on while working because my brain seems to tune into it only when it’s not in deep concentration. I suppose it all keeps the verbal side of my brain active even if silent :)

Interesting topic, Robert. After reading your article I thought to myself; is silence a right or left brain activity? I tend to think it is a right brain activity. When I am in that zone, i.e. painting, silence is golden. But I can break away and socialize with no problem. My main annoyance is noise, like lawn mowers, jet planes, Television, road noise, roofing a house, etc.

Is Silence Golden ~ this all sounds familiar – I have often zoned out while creating and when interrupted people think I’m being rude because I can’t respond immediately or the way they think I should respond – I try to brush it off as “I’m working” but I know they don’t understand . . . another thing I’ve noticed – I get distracted by the words themselves sometimes in conversation – I “picture” the words in my inner vision, which leads to a delay in response. Anyone else experience this ? I know another creative person who says they ‘see days of the week’ in color . . .

thinking about silence–there is never complete silence—-taking away all of the things that make noise in our home, there is a quietness,,, everything seems to make a noise,,,sometimes very loud and harsh,, In my case, working on a project, painting or sewing or cleaning house, doing dishes,working in the yard ,tending gardens,there is a quietness within me,,a calmness, focusing on the project at hand,,no worries about anything else,,worries of life disappear,,, I live in the woods,,going outside early in the morning is SO quiet,,you hear only the soft sounds of nature, as I right this I see a pair of doves just flew by the window,,So I must go, out (yes the coffee pot is beeping,,) Happy quiet day to all !!

Some of us require silence as a result of noise trauma; it is not a matter of preference. Consider this post a public service warning – you have no idea how a hearing disorder can impact your life, health, and work. Concerts, plays, radio, church, movies, sports, and hiking are an impossibility since then. Subsequent loud noise has literally knocked me to the ground. A simple trip to the grocers or dinner in a restaurant require noise canceling headphones. Please, turn down the volume of music in your car, iPods, and house to protect your hearing and balance; they’re precious. Everything I do must be done in silence, including painting.

In response to Miss PeggyArtist: I see numbers and letters in colour too, even letters of an alphabet in a different language (I speak Hebrew). It’s called Synesthesia. We synesthetics don’t talk about it too much because of the tendency of others to see us as total nut jobs (I sometimes assign gender and age to letters, others can smell or hear letters…), and it doesn’t much affect my life except to make it a bit more colourful. The only drawback was when I was assigned my current phone number from Rogers and the colours really clashed. ;-)

In February I got a case of laryngitis and lost my voice completely for almost two weeks. No sounds came from my mouth – not even when I sneezed. I gradually got a voice back but not my own. I sounded more like Ida Lupino; not that that is bad but this is not my voice. Here it is August, I still sound more like Ida than the old (or six-months-younger) me. Use it or lose it is so true but the more I use it the less there is and eventually I begin to sound less like Ida and more like Bob Dylan. Now that is scary. Someone told me to practice my mi, mi, mi’s. Sounds too selfish. Perhaps in my case silence is golden.

I heard that when speaking one uses the left side of the brain and when painting one uses the right side. So it is difficult to change between the two when doing both simultaneously. I’ve noticed this particularly when artists are demonstrating a painting technique and trying to verbalize about it. The talk gradually declines, fades off and dies.

When I was teaching drawing to small children age 5 to 7, I became aware of the fact that the most and dedicated children hummed to themselves -otherwise you could have heard a pin drop -no chats or any other noise making for a session about 20 minutes long – I found it intriguing -becoming much more self conscious, my older students just drew -and the ones who did make themselves noticed, were the ones with focusing issues -Hmmmmm?!

I have had the same issue with talking after painting…a full weekend of painting, and I think clearly in concepts but cannot say a straight sentence. I’m firmly convinced that my speech center is in a different part of my brain than my painting center! As I’ve gotten older, I’ve integrated the two better by improving my speaking abilities in general…

I ward off ‘transient artistic aphasia’ by listening to TED talks (ted.com) while I paint. I can choose subject matter that suits my mood without the not-necessarily-welcome emotional impact of music … or the risk of making strokes in three-quarter time. TED talks seem to keep the verbal part of my brain intact while letting the visual brain focus on the art at hand.

In some instances silence is golden. Humans are social beings so we need to have connection and support system in our daily life. When I am painting I can work alone especially when I am in the process of working out or thinking of my composition and colors to incorporate to best present the total composite of my painting. At this stage I like to concentrate so distractions are not welcome because I could lose my train of thought. Once I have laid out my plan I can entertain some socializing. I would not totally ignore a phone call or conversation with my family and friends. I can work alone and I also enjoy working with my open studio group. We exchange ideas and discuss the trends in art. I think to have a balance of work and time for socializing is important in promoting art. Going extreme in the pursuit of silence makes us unbalanced. Perhaps it may even be pathological. Some people call it eccentricity and some may even have greatness by having it.

I was incredibly relieved to read about the artist who had trouble communicating after long periods of painting. I have the same condition but since I am a full-time painter I thought I was developing dementia! (It does run in the family.) Perhaps I’m normal after all.

The whole of this letter carried a consistent YOGI humanity about your message which you made up for us, for whom you care and console with your compassion; always setting yourself up as the if “the joke is really on you” who is as guilty as all of us of these idiosyncrasies. Brilliant endearing tone throughout.

It’s your right brain vs. left brain. If you are too right-brained, you will have a weak left brain, and then be tongue-tied. It’s “scientific!”.

I also have found that I lose control of my voice box during protracted painting sessions. At times I have to check to see if I am breathing too. My immediate solution was to invite a friend to come and paint with me a couple of times a week. I selected one who has the same affliction, although we space it out so that one of us is always cognizant at any given time. Works fine for us.

I find my self going long periods of painting [2 or 3 hours] then lots of talking to any one near me, about small trivial things. I guess we are truly group animals.

Massaging the exact center of your scull will help regain balance between your right brain and left brain activity. If you notice a bump or a slight valley on top of your head, double the massaging time. Your goal is a perfectly smooth scull top and flawless capability to balance your checkbook while painting.

Dear Mr. Robert. I’d like to thank you very much for your very nice letters, I really appreciate them. Not far but, 2-3 days ago I was listening to my radio in my studio. There was a nice song “Silence is Golden ,but I can still see”, and I just wrote it down in my book. Today i just open my email and I got the question from you. Is silence golden? Yes it is :) I don’t have much time to write more,, I’m sorry, but in the future I hope I’ll have something .

We need to concede that noise pollution has cluttered our lives. There are now few places of habitation where the internal combustion engine cannot be heard. This is a relatively new phenomenon when you consider that the automobile is barely 120 years old. What did the ancients have to hear but the calls of nature, including the human voice, the chopping of wood and an occasional lutenist who came by to sooth them?

After reading your letter I turned off the radio. It was lovely.

As an artist, my conversations with what I create happen only in silence. Life is general is noisy and chaotic and I feel silence is golden at such times, but sound is golden for those that can not hear, that yearn to know how the sound of a chirping bird is like. So I will learn to appreciate all the sounds that are around me even when they are chaotic.

146,000 vehicles pass within 100 metres daily my tinnitus fills in the gaps. I have music to listen to while I paint, time and noise pass effortlessly…and a painting evolves. The silence of the countryside and Greek Island tranquility terrifies me! Then hearing aids & my increasing deafness are both a bane and a pleasure!

Silence surely does seem to be golden at times …and at other times even the most horrible clatter goes by unnoticed. While this seems to be a contradiction, it may be simply a clash of two different mental processes. The Brainologists claim that we conduct the business of artistic creation somewhere in the right side of the brain …cognizance of form, aesthetic qualities, and such, while we do our math homework and processes language over in the left side. The artist you mentioned, who, after working at his palate for a time finds it difficult to process spoken language, seems to hint that tasks that absorb our attention in one mode of brain function allow the other side time to idle about and doze off from sheer neglect. Could an artist’s right brain, accustomed to sensing correct composition, proportions, lighting, shading and such, operate entirely independently of the word grinding left brain that grinds out sentences and numbers? Can it be that we can so lose ourselves at one single task, some mode of operating that uses a single portion of the brain, that when we suddenly begin tasks using the other portion, it takes a brief re-orientation before it realizes that it’s on duty and “kicks in.” …and can this work the other way? Does the guy who puzzles over written works or ciphers numbers for long periods of time become so accustomed to using the left brain that, when it is suddenly time to switch over to a task that requires the right brain’s creative, aesthetic mode, it seems, for a moment unfamiliar and daunting? Could the left portion of the gray matter, that interprets spoken words, function entirely separately from the creative right half of the head with neither particularly interfering with the other? While probably an over-simplification, I wonder if this could explain why we can manage artistic work while talking or listening to language and still become irritated by other types of sounds or noise that intrude on the work of the right brain in its artistic mode. If any of your readers are Brainologists at their day job, perhaps we could call on them for some help with all this?

I have found that when you talk to yourself, you meet a better class of people.

This is in response to Susan Kellogg’s delightful comment. I must be really classy, Susan. Thank you for easing the pain of my admitting to talking to myself ! I truly find that thinking out loud while painting can improve the work at hand. It clarifies your thinking; you are not having random and cluttered stuff swishing through your brain interfering with good judgment.