SKYE stephenson

As I write this article, I am preparing for a spiritual retreat for ten days that will be, in large part, silent. We are also asked to leave behind our cell phones, computers, etc. for the entire time.

I realize that this will be the first time in years that I will spend a significant amount of time without any electronic devices or internet access. Yes, I have gone a day or two unplugged – but not longer.

Sometimes I wax nostalgic about what it was like before the arrival of computers and cell phones. For me, this includes all of my childhood, as well as my twenties and even a good portion of my time raising children. Time seemed to move more slowly back then, in a good way. Or maybe it was just that I occupied the hours of the day in a different way. And I seemed to have more free time, and relaxing moments. Less stress.

It is true that nowadays we have access to lots more information at the touch of a button or dial. Almost an infinite amount. But is this always useful, and helpful to our own highest good and life path?

Besides, the quality of some of the information on the internet is questionable at best. I seem to be receiving an ever-growing number of advertisements for some product or service of late.  A few weeks ago, I checked the promotions section on my email, and discovered over 8,000 had been delivered to me in the last year. One company had sent more than one promotion every day…and I had only once bought a product from them on line.

I couldn’t help but wonder if in some subtle way, even if I did not read these promotions, they were somehow cluttering up my mind and energy. I spent some hours unsubscribing to lots and deleting all of 2024. A kind of computer Feng Shui.

Another pleasure of the retreat, I suspect, will be the quietude. The silence, which to me is a rich velvet sound that is extremely beautiful and deep. And anything but silent.

This may be, in part, due to my upbringing – which was rather unconventional in many ways. I grew up in a big house with a small family. And both of my parents appreciated silence. For instance, our cars never had a radio, or if they did, it was never on. I spent two full summers on cross country trips, sometimes in the back seat of the car driving all day across the flat Midwest cornfields. And the only sound in the car was silence.

For those of us who are sensitive to sound, what to others is ‘normal’ can be jarring and even stressful. Like loud motorcycles passing by, or someone carrying on a loud conversation into their cell phone while walking along the street, or even some ambient music blared at certain bars and restaurants. So I think having some silence where others are doing the same will be an interesting experience.

But the silence of the retreat does not mean that nothing will be going on. Quite the contrary. We will be leaning a ancient spiritual practice dating back 2,500 years. One that will take great discipline and dedication to focus upon. And a mastery of self and ego that will, I am sure, challenge me in multiple ways.

The word retreat has its origins in Old French. Its original meaning is to ‘draw back’ or ‘retract.’  Retreat is used both to describe a withdrawal for a battle or danger, and also to withdraw or retreat to a quiet or secluded place for rest. But I am guessing I will not be resting at this retreat, but in fact, working very hard towards some small mastery of self.

I am sure there will be surprises awaiting me at the retreat, as there always are on journeys – whether to a foreign place or to a place within ourselves we have not yet explored.

I’ll tell you about my experiences at the Retreat in my column next month.

Published in The Monadnock Shopper News, April 23-29, 2025