The Vanishing Art of Silence

Journal Entry: February 15, 2025

Hans Arp Portrait

The Vanishing Art of Silence

It feels like silence is slipping away from us. Hans Arp once said, “Soon silence will have passed into legend. Man has turned his back on silence. Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation.” And honestly, it’s hard to argue with him.

Everywhere you look, the world is getting louder. The hum of machines, the constant chatter of notifications, the endless stream of entertainment—it’s all designed to fill every empty moment and corner of the mind. It’s as if we’ve collectively decided that silence is something to be avoided, that stillness is a void we need to cover over with sound.

But in turning our backs on silence, I think we’re losing something essential. Silence isn’t just the absence of noise; it’s a space. It’s a moment to breathe, to reflect, to be present. In silence, we connect with ourselves. We process our thoughts. We notice the world around us. It’s in silence that the essence of life reveals itself—not in the noise, but in the pauses between it.

The constant noise of modern life doesn’t just distract us—it dulls us. It keeps us from thinking too deeply, from feeling too much. It’s easier to scroll endlessly through social media or binge on streaming shows than it is to sit quietly and confront what’s really going on in your mind. Silence is uncomfortable because it forces us to be honest — with ourselves, with our emotions, with the things we’d rather avoid.

But silence is also where the magic happens. It’s where ideas form, where creativity is born, where clarity emerges. When you strip away the noise, you can actually hear yourself think. You can feel the rhythm of your own breath, the beating of your own heart. You can be still, for a moment, in a world that never seems to stop moving.

I can’t help but wonder if that’s why we’ve let silence slip away—because it demands something of us. It asks us to slow down, to step outside the relentless momentum of modern life. It asks us to listen, not to the noise of the world, but to the quieter truths inside ourselves. And maybe that scares us since it has become unfamiliar.

But silence doesn’t have to be a relic of the past. We can reclaim it, even in small ways. We can turn off the devices, step away from the noise, and just sit. We can let ourselves be still, be quiet. We can make space for the things that truly matter — contemplation, meditation, connection.

Hans Arp was right—man has turned his back on silence. But it’s never too late to turn back. Silence is still there, waiting for us, if we’re willing to become quiet enough to listen. And in that silence, we might just rediscover the essence of life - being undistractedly present.