Silence Is The Canvas On Which We Paint

Several quotes come to mind when the topic of silence is brought up. In high school, my band director always said, "Silence is the canvas on which we paint." to get us all quiet before playing a piece. Another quote that I'll always remember regarding silence is in one of my favorite movies, Pulp Fiction. Mia and Vincent are sitting at dinner together for the first time, and have nothing to talk about. After an awkward silence, Mrs Wallace expresses her feelings on uncomfortable silences. Although I don't feel comfortable giving the entire quote in a class assignment, she goes on to say that you know you've found someone special when you can just sit and enjoy the silence and not have to "yak" to be comfortable. In the Pulp Fiction context alone, you can see both the comfort and tension of silence.

I feel that the anxiety and tension felt during the silence in a classroom setting is the strongest. When a professor asks a question and is answered with nothing but silence, you can feel the anxiousness in the silence. Most likely, no one wants to answer the question and is squirming in their seat to not be called on. Another time silence is heard in a class is during an exam, which is just as tense and full of anxiety.

Silence in conversations with my friends can mean various things. Silence can be used to say, "Did you really just say that? That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard." It can also convey that I've completely zoned out and don't know how to respond because I haven't actually been listening, which is actually quite common amongst my friends. We also use silence to show when we're upset. We decide that it's better to say nothing than to open our mouths and say something hurtful.

At home, whether it be at my parents with my family or at my apartment with my roommate, silence is few and far between. However, when those moments do happen it's a silence of comfort, for the most part. We've seen each other enough and had enough conversations that we can just sit without saying anything and enjoy each other's company. Silence is rarely used to express anger in this setting with me, because I am comfortable enough to just spit out what's wrong and have the faith that my feelings will not affect the relationship drastically.