Silence Please

WBro Todd of Lodge Devotion

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends

Martin Luther King Jr. 1928-1958

Body Language has been man's best mode of communication and his most trusted aide since the dawn of recorded communication that can prove it. The ability to communicate with another has been an integral part of man's daily life such that a life without it can be safely deemed unthinkable. Yet among the varied types of communication, there is one style that has baffled many: The ability to be silent and yet communicate.

Silence has played a major role in social and professional communication such that its meaning and interpretations can be vast and unexplored principally because of the fact that its understanding is not based on the action but rather the reason that induces it. It's more like an ice berg analogy where what is unseen needs to be studied to understand what is seen.

Fascinatingly, silence is like a parody where one communicates more when he or she is not actually communicating. But, considering many a factor like the pen being mightier than the sword and that instant justice, activism and redressal is the new in, why do people in modern age still revere the concept of silence such that they fall short of its personification and deism. Apparently, all Gods like to talk... smiles.

Silence, over the years has earned the respect and has always been considered to be the friend of the wise and that to attain one's goal one needs to concentrate on the talks of another and his own goals which can be achieved only through personal silence. And in a world where bustling cities rage supreme, the need to understand and decode this fast mis-interpreted concept is becoming imperative.

So let's explore what are the different types and purposes of silence:

Meditational Silence

This silence refers to soul searching and inner quests of understanding who we are and what is our purpose in life. It helps us bring into perspective what we need to prioritize and or ignore.

Respectful Silence

Here the person remains quiet in sheer respect for the arrival, departure or even whilst the person he or she respects is speaking. The respect is tied to the person's age, qualification, gender and profession among many.

Consensual Silence

This silence is purely situational and is the result of the person's inability to either stand for the truth or voice his opinion. This is very often a negative form of silence where the person indulging in it is often a partner in crime.

Helpless Silence

This form of silence is generally showcased by those who are physically, emotionally and spiritually weak. However there is a fine line here that separates genuineness from comfort zones.

Criminal Silence

Though this may sound self explanatory, it also refers to those who are sadistic and choose to be silence in situations when they have the opportunity to make things right but choose to redress their vested feelings.

Silence of Wisdom

There is an old saying from the movie Princess' Diary, Royalty doesn't jingle. Similarly, like currency notes, the wise prefer to remain silent and await their turn to make their views more meaningful. It is considered to be a sign of immaturity when one speaks: It is good to be silent and appear to be wise than to open your mouth and clear all doubts.

Silence during Emotive Situations

This is mostly seen and acted out during intense emotive situations or just before a climax in a relationship or movie scene. It’s like the calm before a storm or even a Tsunami Warning.

Silence of the Heart

This does not mean death but rather when the heart skips a beat and where five minutes feels like ages when you are in the company of the one you truly love. Here Silence says more than any word.

Silence of Aloofness

Here silence depicts the aloofness of the individual where the soul departs from reality and indulges itself in a virtual world. People call this day dreaming or a trance.

Silence to Suppress Anger

This is a silence of choice where the person chooses to remain quiet so that his outburst of anger will not make him loose face in front of the other. This is mainly done out of either respect or obligation.

Silence to Induce Calm

This is generally when the mind tells the body to stop over reacting and take in a deep breath to calm down and assess the situation at hand more rationally.

Silence to Protest

We have all heard of silent protests. In fact man is more afraid of those who are silent when others scream out their grievances. Remember Still waters run deep.

These are just some interpretations of one of the most misunderstood forms of body language communication and a classic example of knowing that what you see isn't always what you get and that Life is simple, but man complicates it.