There is action to be taken in the world, for sure. Urgent action to take care of our lives, our communities, and the wider world in which we all live. But there is a also a deep well of presence, patience, intimacy, and connection right in the centre of each of us. When our action is fearful, rushed and out of touch with this still centre, it easily spills over into polarisation, panic and disconnection. And when the source of our action is this centre, the essential aliveness and goodness that we all are at the heart of things, much more that is sustaining and care-filled becomes possible. What is it to find our way back to the vastness that is our origins, and to let our lives and relationships be infused by that at each moment, especially now?



This week's Turning Towards Life is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.



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Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google, Amazon Music and Spotify.



Episode Overview

00:00 Welcome and Introduction to Silence

04:03 The Importance of Silence in Our Lives

08:00 Silence as a Political Act

12:04 Finding Our Center in Silence

15:58 The Role of Silence in Action

20:08 Cultivating Silence for Deeper Connection

23:46 Reflection and Observation in Leadership

28:10 Gratitude for Silence and Connection

31:51 Conclusion and Invitation to Return



Here's our source for this week:



Within Each of Us There is a Silence 



Within each of us there is a silence

—a silence as vast as a universe.

We are afraid of it…and we long for it.



When we experience that silence, we remember

who we are: creatures of the stars, created

from the cooling of this planet, created

from dust and gas, created

from the elements, created

from time and space…created

from silence.



In our present culture,

silence is something like an endangered species…

an endangered fundamental.



The experience of silence is now so rare

that we must cultivate it and treasure it.

This is especially true for shared silence.



Sharing silence is, in fact, a political act.

When we can stand aside from the usual and

perceive the fundamental, change begins to happen.

Our lives align with deeper values

and the lives of others are touched and influenced.



Silence brings us back to basics, to our senses,

to our selves. It locates us. Without that return

we can go so far away from our true natures

that we end up, quite literally, beside ourselves.



We live blindly and act thoughtlessly.

We endanger the delicate balance which sustains

our lives, our communities, and our planet.



Each of us can make a difference.

Politicians and visionaries will not return us

to the sacredness of life.



That will be done by ordinary men and women

who together or alone can say,

"Remember to breathe, remember to feel,

remember to care,

let us do this for our children and ourselves

and our children's children. Let us practice for life's sake."



by Gunilla Norris



Photo by Janke Laskowski on Unsplash