What do you hear when you find silence...? 

Outstanding episode on a subject that doesn’t stand out that much in our lives, yet is always present. Beautifully narrated and filmed.

Silence opens the gate in your head that leads to focus on a higher level. More than a question of priorities, information through your senses is then assimilated without disturbances. A memorable episode of Books & Bones Lieven.

Loved that line " silence is a form of active communication ". I always saw it as lack of communication. I am with you when you say it's hard to enjoy true silence living in a city. But here's my secret : stay up after midnight. My sweet spot is about 1 am. And you will experience true silence. I look out the window at these times and almost hear the sighs of my sleepy town. But I have to say, you might lose some sleep, staying up late 😄 but for an insomniac like me, it is the best time of the day. I believe once you've experienced the wonders of silence, there is no going back. It is so meditative. Like you said, " A time for the soul to weight itself". Excellent video as always! 👏

Beautifully done. The idea of silence being an active form of communication and the sounds suggested by paintings are ideas I will have to contemplate for a while. Thank you.

Loved the ideas and perspectives shared. Thanks for your insights. I loved the quote from Maeterlinck on the link between silence and the soul. I will try to be more aware and appreciative.

Amazing! Great story telling, thanks!

From the astonishing beauty of the silence in an abbey or a Breughel painting, to the dark side of silence. Top episode, both content and footage wise!👌

Thanks again for your fascinating take on silence. And labyrinths! I recently visited a working Benedictine monastery in Normandy. Silence is the rule, but interspersed with lengthy and noisy bell ringing to mark the divisions of the monastic day, and to call the monks, (and indeed the whole village) , to their allotted tasks. A friend told me he had spent a week there, many years before, to revise for exams. Another friend recently spent the winter alone on a remote Hebridean island to write, away from the noise and constant interruptions of her home. Maeterlinck’s words are so beautiful, even in translation. I have read Erling Kagge I think several years ago …but it’s in a box somewhere . Silence can be chosen, or imposed, sometimes violently (Philomela, Daphne - gendered silencing). Companionable silence in company, or unwanted silence in a solitary place. The silence of space, or the noisy “silence” of the wild. I will look more at pictures to understand the sounds. The silence as a pause in music, or before the audience comes back to reality and applauds. Silence as peace and quiet from interruptions, silence in a lonely house…. loss of hearing, tinnitus….And as somebody pointed out in the comments, reading was not originally a silent activity. Didn’t Alberto Manguel write about this? Ah, so many books to turn out and read….

Excellent topic. I first learned about the value of silence from Eckhart Tolle. However using art to hear silence is a wonderful idea I will enjoy putting into practice. Thank you 😀

Isn't it ironic that perhaps one of the loudest activities of early modernity was reading? Books are places we now escape to for quiet refuge, but in earlier periods more people heard words read to them, especially where literacy rates were low. I write from a library, one of the few places that preserves the sound of silence.

Excellent program Enjoyed it

…Perhaps one of the possible returns out of the labyrinth would include Asian and Nordic (or cold weather) cultures? I work with space.. and I feel that geography and specific natural environments (senses) influence behaviour (and therefore silence). …I also really enjoyed the ‘silence’ of the screensaver for a moment there 😅 Anyway, thanks so much and keep up the great work!

It personally saddens me a bit that nowadays content creators constantly need to clarify their intentions in choosing something and not something else, while assuring that they respect diversity, just not to offend anyone. I look forward to a day when a choice or a personal taste won't be seen as offenses or lack of respect...

😴 ᑭяỖｍｏ𝓼𝐦