Being with people usually energizes me. Observing and interacting with people makes my world bigger and more exciting and I love it. I love people and communication.

Maybe it’s part of maturing, but as I become more self-aware, I’m learning that I need silent spaces that link between the intense, noisy, crowded, fun hubub of people. The bridge of silence gives me a place to regroup, assess where I’ve been, and where I’m going. It is, as a friend says, a time for my soul to catch up with my body.

The bridge of silence is an active place, not lethargic or lazy. But it is silent. And in a different way than the crowd, it energizes me again. Sometimes I have 20 min. on the bridge. Sometimes I have half a day to spend on it. Solitude and silence is a spiritual discipline that saints have practiced for centuries. I treat is as a luxury, but I might be more saintly if I kept it as a discipline.

These days, when seemingly endless lines of customers and chit chat fill my hours, I desperately need silent bridges to connect the days and keep me from falling off the peaks. Which is where I’m going now.