The Sound of Silence
I love to watch American Idol. The musical talent that people have amazes me and makes me wish I could just pull a move like Ursula the sea witch and steal great voices and bottle them up for my use because I have no singing talent.
I was watching one of my favorite idol contestants, he was singing “The Sound of Silence” for his performance.
Although that song has a lot of different interpreted meanings, I was thinking of how it resonated with me when it comes to motherhood.
The song in a nutshell talks about people being unable to communicate with each other and/or have felt alienated and disassociated from society. As mothers, we have all felt that at one time or another, or currently feel that way now.
Motherhood is and can be isolating. So why is it that when we are put in certain social situations we don’t speak to each other? We don’t communicate when we want to.
We feel that feeling in the bottom of our stomach, that feeling of unease and anxiousness. The thought of being rejected, being judged or simply embarrassing ourselves. When we feel socially challenged, our brains divert resources away from high-level thought to heighten our senses, in preparation to flee and tend to overthink things.
Or maybe it’s the way of life in which people are caught up in these days. The way technology has progressed over time has taken away people’s ability to communicate, and are only speaking if they have to.
The song means that there’s some kind of risk, some kind of possible loss or vulnerability that may occur if you do speak up and say something. There have been times when I did not say something in a social setting to another mom when I wanted to out of fear. But there are also times when I have pushed through that uneasy feeling in my gut put myself out there and made myself vulnerable. Every time I have done that, it has been positive. I spoke to a mom at my kids’ school that I had recognized after seeing her multiple times at the gym and after our conversation she said “Thank you for approaching and talking to me.” When I heard that, I knew that going forward, I would always make it a point to speak up.
So as the song may criticize people who are unable to connect and communicate with others, don’t continue to undisturbed the silence. Compliment that momma, she needs to hear it. Invite that momma out for coffee, she needs an adult conversation. Ask that momma to have a playdate, she needs the connection. See if that momma is available for a girl’s night, she needs that time away. The simplest thing of speaking up can have a huge impact on someone without you even realizing it.
So let’s break the sound of silence.
