Sometimes, it’s OK to talk to yourself; even healthy. First of all, you’ll hopefully find a receptive audience. Secondly, such a chat can help you figure things out, pulling resources from the vast recesses of your own mind. Paul Simon wrote a landmark song that became a 1966 #1 hit, “The Sound of Silence”. “Hello darkness, my old friend / I’ve come to talk with you again” is how it begins. Simple, powerful, profound.
As we head (hopefully) around the final turn of this pandemic era over the next six months, perhaps we should all take some time, alone, to quietly assess where we are, what we’re doing, and how we’re feeling. Perhaps then we will better be able to deal with everything else that comes about as hopefully “it’ll be alright, when the morning comes” (written by Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates and popularized locally by Kapalana).
Simon sang in “The Sound of Silence” about “People talking without speaking / People hearing without listening”. And boy, does that sound like what we’ve witnessed lately, what we’ve become and where we are in far too many areas. While things seem a bit calmer, more congenial, and more civil locally, one can still feel rumblings about “what’s next” and “where do we go from here”?
The time has come for more thinking before speaking, more empathy, listening, creativity, and intelligence as we plan our collective futures. The time has come for common good to take precedence over any sort of “what’s in it for me” syndrome. We can address a number of issues and perhaps press the “reset” button, but we must not let this opportunity slip by without deep analysis, self-analysis, and productive activity on festering items of concern here- about our futures, what aloha really means, housing realities, and ensuring that our keiki have the means to provide for their keiki without moving away. No hollow pontifications or big body. Silence, listening, action.
It won’t be easy or quick, as we also need to jump start our economy, and there are a laundry list of items that have been talked about for years with minimal, tangible results as things have been OK here for years… for some people. Through the sound of silence, hopefully quality listening occurs, better ideas emerge, compassion and rational reasoning reverberate, and we come out of this thing wiser and willing.
Think about it…