Reading your post I hear two comments about silence: The first is about a writer’s typical lack of feedback i.e., silence from readers; and the second, to seek silence, as non-Indigenous peoples, in the midst of our typically chaotic lives.
As a nearly life-long writer of 72-years of age, and self-publisher of a northwestern Minnesota magazine for 24 years, I know a lot about what you said that, “‘ ... being a writer is like shouting from inside a glass box: you can see the people moving out there, but you have no idea if they hear you.’” And is why I kept the little scribbled notes attached to re-subscriptions; feedback that was sent out-of-the-blue after reading something that resonated with them; or emailed us over the course of years as positive comment or criticism -- any feedback is better than no feedback.
And as for experiencing silence about oneself, too much silence is intimidating to my wife and her family who man, woman and child all need ‘white noise’ to sleep here where we live, ‘far from the madding crowd,’ “ in the middle-of-nowhere.”
While that’s true enough for almost all non-inhabitants visiting us, it’s just as true that others embrace it for its total escape from their environment in the cities where they reside. They long to come back to our rehabilitative places for I believe silence is relative to their life experience; "That one must attempt silence to know what is inevitably resounding around you that you have not heard before."
--Steven Reynolds
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