At the moment I’m reading Landscape of Farewell. It is a book that I should have read when I was doing Australian Literature in the first semester of last year as it was part of the course, but I did not read the book. I intended to for the longest time and am now reading it and I must say that, despite some things being really on the nose for no reason, I think that it is a good book.

However, as with most books pertaining to serious subject matter, it is making me think a little too much about my life and my current situations. Such is the way of things, I suppose.

In the book, the power of silence is explored in what can be described as an unflattering light and it is this that probably resonates with me the most.

Silence really is a powerful thing. It can be a hurtful, painful experience, not just to those that are silent but also to those that are on the outside.

I am on the outside.

Of course, being on the outside I can only have the perspective on an outsider, but even though I am keenly aware of that, it is still this that assists in forming how I feel and what I think about one situation.

Silence can be, for some a rejuvenating tool as it allows them to look inward, but when, to someone on the outside that silence feels as though it is directed, then it can really hurt.

I can be misreading this situation. I have to openly admit to that. That does not do much to change how I feel.

I genuinely believe that talking about things is much better than remaining silent. There is a time and place for silence, but I think that talking about issues, tensions and problems is much better for dealing with them than remaining silent.

Too much talking can always be an issue. That is not something that can be ignored. However, not talking about things can be, in many ways a lot worse. Too much talking can be circumvented. Silence can be a most stubborn thing and prevent any progress form being made. It can lead to things being carried for far longer than they need to be.

There needs to be a balance found.

Sometimes I wonder if I talk too much.
Perhaps that is driven by my life having far more silence in it than I would wish.
I do not know.

I think that I’ve just had too much stress in my life from silence. As said before, it is a powerful tool. It can have a most crushing weight, both on someone being silent and those on the outside.

Perhaps it is due to communication being one of the most powerful tools that we have at our disposal. Many issues, if not understood by two or more people can only find resolution in communication.

In these situations, silence can only prevent resolution.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 12:04:14

Slow. Don’t care. I think that in some ways this is one of my better pieces of writing as I was much more thoughtful as I was writing.

Written at UNSW.