I was driving listening to one of my favourite guitarists the other day, David Gilmour (have all my favourite Pink Floyd and all his solo albums on a play-list). Listening to his guitar work made me realise, what makes him of of the greatest guitarists (in my humble opinion), because of the chords he does not play… the silence inbetween his chords, when he plays a chord… strums/plucks the string/s … and then waits….. that waiting for the next chord to me is at times the best part of his music. That for me is what makes Gilmour such a magnificent guitarist, to me he is the master of the sublime and the understated. To make a statement or impression one does not need to make a noise, neither does one as a guitarist need to rip, shred or wail.

The pause resonates, this then took my mind off on one of its (many) tangents. 🙂

The importance of the unsaid versus the said, the importance of what is not said, in the moments of silence. Interestingly my favourite Pink Floyd album is Wish You Were Here, and it is ironic, that the album explores themes of absence (silence). The lyrics encompass Roger Waters’ feelings of alienation from other people, notably within the band and the tension that they were experiencing.

Well back to my musings of the silence between the chords and lets explore this dynamic in life; lets explore how the silent conversations can benefit our relationships and way of life. The comfort of being in someone’s presence and just being … silent …. the silent conversations we have with a loved one or close friend. This silence does not alienate, but brings us closer together, we find comfort, solace in the silence. The importance of silence in conversation can carry more weight than the spoken word.

The silence echoes around the enclosed walls of our minds, encouraging us to break down the alienation and find solace in the silence, and learn the importance of being silent, quiet … amongst those we feel close too, and then taking this silence out into the rushed and frenetic world in which we live. This can help us to slow down in the fast paced world we live in, for when speed is king, anyone or anything that gets in our way, that slows us down, becomes an enemy. Thanks to speed, we are living in the age of rage. That to is ironic, the fast pace of life alienates more than the comfort we can find in silence.

By opting out we do not have to drop out…