The past three weeks have been a profound time of quiet reflection, an inner journey.

I came back from a very special road trip. It was a time of deep connection and reflection.

However I had packed in so many hours of intense online work prior to the trip, that I lost my voice in the process and found that my voice took a long time to return. I was due to be interviewed on the day of my return on a podcast on Self-care and I was silenced. I had slightly damaged my vocal cords in trying to keep going regardless. The deep irony was not lost on me!

The interview was postponed. And so began a journey of hardly speaking at all.
It was a strange time. I learnt to speak only when absolutely necessary. To save my voice for short but important zoom moments when I chose to say something thoughtfully scripted and sparingly.

And in this process, I realized somewhat shocking realizations.

I had taken my voice for granted. As a speaker and a writer, speaking was an extension of my life. Now I was silent. I never quite realized the gift I had been given. It was as if I was being gently held in the knowledge that I was given a voice for a reason – “Use it wisely “was the message.

I also realized how much my speaking robbed me of listening. A consciousness coach had told me a while back that I need to embrace silence. Now I had been physically silenced.

And in the silence, I heard afresh God’s calling in my life. But I had to rest in the solitude of silence to fully hear the clarity of the vision in a way I had not heard before. I saw it, I felt it, I tasted it, my deepest why.

And so, in silence, the framework of my second book was birthed. It was crystal clear. Its structure, its message, its title.

Sometimes we have to be silenced in order to truly hear, to truly listen, so that we can know, so that we can feel the irrevocable path forward.

Silence can be sacred.

Thank you for tribing with me.