Good Silences

THIS WEEKS PROMPT:

" Good Silences~

Paulo Freire always reminded us of complexity, even in language. The word 'silence' stretches way beyond oppression. It also describe something we seek and treasure. It's in silence that we gather our thoughts, center out energy, fell the love and understanding we need for taking action. Quakers, Buddhist meditators and many others use silence to connect with forces larger than ourselves. Freire also valued the reflective possibilities of silence. In 1985, I heard him speak about what he called the "tensions between silence and voice." Silence, which we often see as empty, can represent great activity. "I can spend on hour silent but totally alive. I can speak a lot in silence" he told a crowd at Harvard University. Freire warned teachers not to "emphasize our own voice so much that we impose silence on students" but to "feel out how to get voice from the other side... how to, little by little, go into silence." When we truly choose it, silence is a powerful ally to speech (Dunlap,15)"

Reference:
Dunlap, L. (2007). Undoing the Silence: Six Tools for Social Change Writing. Oakland: New Village Press.

MY RESPONSE:

First off WOW!! This is a a very empowering paragraph, which I feel means that his speech was even more impacting. So, silence...it can be a very good thing as well as bad. The last time we blogged we talked about voicing our opinions in order to help ourselves as well as others. This is along the same lines of that. We need to speak our thoughts but not so much that we don't allow others to do so on their own. So we must silence ourselves too. I believe this connects to social work a lot because it is important to help others help themselves by silencing ourselves and taking in their feelings and feeling empathy for them, rather than preaching what we think. Sometimes silence can be better than speaking out because it allows us to think to ourselves and process ideas and feelings that we have. That is how I use silence. When I am having a rough day or maybe even a good day, I make the point to have some time to myself and just relax to help wind me down. I like to process my day and think about the things that happened. I also use it as a way of problem solving, because it allows me to fulling think the problem over before I act on it. Sometimes when I act on something before I think about it, whatever I do makes the problem worse. I guess that validates the saying "Think before you speak." If we silence our voices somewhat I feel it allows others to share more of their voice rather just our own which means that we can gain more insight on things. If you takes the time to listen it may help you change something in your life, because the example you got impacted by it greatly. So a little tip of advice: don't just speak, allow silence in your life too because you may learn something about yourself in the process.

Why Be Reluctant to Speak Out???

Prompt: Mainstream Americans are reluctant to speak out in writing, even when it can make a real difference. How can we shift that reluctance by setting aside self-judgment, releasing fear and tapping our common heritage as powerful thinkers as a means of turning our writing into action? 

I feel that from time to time every person has this feeling. It may be for different reasons for each person, but some of those reasons may include: feeling they wouldn't be heard, feeling embarrassed, or just plain not wanting to do it. In reality even though we may have this feeling it is not always what comes out of the situation. Many times if you ask for help you are going to get it. Also it can be very beneficial to others if you voice your opinions, thoughts or questions because someone else may feel the same way. It can be a way for you to feel better about yourself and the decisions you may make. If we take the initiative to step up to the plate it is very likely that we can overcome our fears of this issue. I know from personal experience that I don't like to speak in front of others because I feel embarrassed and that I may say something wrong. I feel this way even when I need to ask a question through writing, but if I take the step to do it I usually come out on top of the problem with information I need to feel confident.
This brings me to the profession of social work that we are all getting into. Taking what we learn from these classes and experiences and turning them into tools for us will help us help others in positive ways. We will always learn from our actions sometimes in good ways, and sometimes in bad ways. But if we don't take the steps to have those experiences we won't learn as much.