meditative | The Silence Experiment

Posted by dreamfired

We’d grown the fascination earlier in the day, talking about characters who use knots not writing to record histories. Silently C and I knotted from two ends of the same string. With the sounds of talking and playing drifting down the stairs we both added small metal, tying with bunny ears because that was easiest. The dual decision to pick metal from the array of tat we had to choose from wasn’t telegraphed or specified – it flowed.

The Silence Experiment
Silent: Me and Camilla
Site: Cam’s Living Room, King’s Heath, Birmingham
State: Knotting
Surprises: Cam talked about road noise after – I hadn’t heard it

Posted by dreamfired

L’s silence is full of whispering. She has Bear-bear’s foot for stroking and I have my purple stress bug to play with. He bulges in all sorts of directions and L wants to destroy him. Fortunately nothing hurts him though when you pull his arms and legs and let go it makes a loud noise. Bear-bear is sleeping even though she could have been awake. We are warm and cosy in our blankets. L helped write this.

The Silence Experiment:
Silent: Me and Livvy
Site: My bedroom, Richmond Road, Bristol
State: Relaxing on the bed
Surprises: Whispering feels like a natural part of silence

Posted by dreamfired

Odd, the things you do when following your own rules. I adapt Monday’s pose, kneeling in front of B’s bedroom window that looks out at the lights of Bristol suburbs, with my arms clasped at my ribcage. I wonder if it feels a bit like praying before you go to bed. I wouldn’t know. I thought I would be watching the city but am distracted by my own reflection. My shellac nails are dark against my skin.

The Silence Experiment:
Silent: Me (Ben falling asleep behind me)
Site: Ben’s room, Dunkerry Road, Bristol
State: kneeling and still with arms in almost prayer position
Surprises: wooden floorboards hurt my knees a lot

Posted by dreamfired

The duvet cover over my head still doesn’t block out the sound of the outside world, but it does make the sound of my breathing louder. I am aiming for stillness. Meditating I suppose, but less focused. For unknown reasons I have chosen lying in bed with hands folded coffin style over my ribcage, though not peacefully. The dominant sensation is tightness in my chest – causing the posture, not a result of it. I feel faintly silly

The Silence Experiment:
Silent: Just Me
Site: My room, Richmond Road, Bristol
State: in the dark attempting a still and wordless silence
Surprises: The seven minutes seems short where I expected it to be long

Posted by dreamfired

The moss is damp so I choose cold rather than wet and sit on my coat. I am silent but this New Year’s Day woodland is far from it. Crows and other unidentifiable birds are louder than the M32 drone but not as loud as the dogs barking at the mud. Angrily rather than comfortably solitary; I am so preoccupied that I do not notice the lines of pale fungi on the tree in front of me until almost the end.

The Silence Experiment:
Silent: Just me
Site: Nameless woodland beyond Lockleaze Open Space, Bristol
State: Sitting, looking, thinking
Surprises: Can’t see for looking