Silence on the verge of extinction

I really enjoyed the On Being show today about the need for Silence.  You can listen to the podcast The Last Quiet Places here.  One of the things I enjoy the most about teaching Zentangle is the quiet that falls over a class once people start tangling.  It's a beautiful and safe sound.  As Acoustic Ecologist Gordon Hempton says real quite is "presence" not just the absence of noise.  One suggestion is to listen to nature in order to improve one's ability to listen to people.  He goes on to state that "Quiet is Quieting", meaning that spending some time being silent calms the mind and soul.  For adults, being silent can be frightening because we are trained to fill voids.  The podcast includes some lovely nature sounds.  Enjoy:)