On keeping silence for three days

Silence is not a test. It is a few hours where nobody has to be interesting. We hold it on every stay. Usually from after lunch on the second day until the next morning.

The first afternoon people fidget. They look at the lake as if it might speak. By evening the room is easier. Breakfast the next day is quieter than instruction could make it.

You may write. You may walk. You may not explain yourself in the path. If that feels unkind, it usually means you needed it.

When we open the circle again, nobody is required to report. Some do. Most just eat.