A Letter to the Unknown (Part One: Silence)

To whomever it may concern,

The humming of the air-con and the gentle ripple of the aquarium water-pump. The phones remain silent as the holiday season has officially begun. The temperature is rising outside although the sun is playing hide and seek behind snow white fair weather clouds. It seems that the oracles of weather got it right when they prophesied swelter for the rest of the week, and for once, I am more than pleased that they are right.

I cannot escape the feeling of something lurking around the corner. There is an impending potential, like an uninvited guest, sending shivers as it waxes and wanes without pattern and form. Perhaps I am over-sensitive this time of year. Perhaps I've been stigmatized forever, but then, this time I will not seek validity in this from the empty words of gods and men, regardless of the form the manifestation appears, nor will I be hell-bent over some half-assed gut feeling originating in the abyss within. Ah, the dilemma of human condition. Words are absolutely useless, when the meaning and the intent behind verbal communication has to guessed and/or deciphered, or arduously excavated from the layered sub-contexts of what hasn't been said. An Oxford "Silence-English-Silence" Dictionary would come in handy.

But fear not, dear observer, conclusions can be drawn, although they cannot be concise, precise or absolute. Silence, as a part of interaction, is an act of withdrawal. It is ultimately about giving the power of choice away, and letting someone else choose. It is about disregarding the truth as it is, leaving knots untied and hanging in the wind, thus, abandoning the power to object, to intervene and to react. Silence is submission, a prayer at the altar of god of cowardice, and a towel abandoned at the ringside of life. Silence can sometimes be a strategy: a conscious choice, a last resort when played into a metaphysical corner. One should not mistake the silence I speak of to the "Silence" of eternity, that of which is said to be golden, and the source of great strenght. That would be the silence within, this is the silence without. I speak of silence when any form of communication would be imperative. Silence as a form of abuse and violence, and the only way to retaliate is the same. Silence as a weapon.