It’s all about Presence. unknowable to the intellect, obvious to the innocent heart. ~ Burt Harding
Lately, I’ve found myself needing to step away from being “the listener.” I’ve always held space for others offering compassion, attention, and presence. But recently, I’ve felt called into something deeper: silence. Not from disconnection or rejection, but from a longing to just be, to rest in what is, without story, without seeking, without analysis.
I attempted to share this with a few close friends, letting them know I wasn’t ending our relationships, just choosing to spend some time in quiet. I hoped they would understand that my silence wasn’t personal, it wasn’t about turning away from them, but turning inward.
Unfortunately, my communication didn’t land as I had hoped. Emotions flared—mine and theirs. I felt unheard, which was painful, especially after offering so much listening over time. But eventually, I saw it clearly: I had created a story in my own mind about not being heard, and that story had pulled me out of presence. There was no right or wrong, no villain or victim just another pointer, another opportunity to return to truth.
So I did. I let go of the mind’s distortion. I surrendered the narrative. I returned to Unity, to Oneness, to Love, and to Grace.
I’m not entirely sure why I’m being called so strongly into silence, but I trust the call. I’ve realized I don’t want to talk about love, peace, or grace, I want to embody them. I don’t want to discuss paths to Oneness, I want to live from it, as it. And I know now: I Am.
I’m at peace with not knowing. I’m no longer seeking. Stillness has become the answer, the only answer.
There can be a fear in letting go of seeking, a fear that we’ll fall into hopelessness or emptiness. But in truth, that emptiness is the doorway to everything. When we allow ourselves to experience nothingness, we discover fullness. The void becomes the vessel. The silence, the symphony.
I believe awakening comes in stages. First, we believe what we seek is outside ourselves. Then, we turn inward and seek within. And finally, we reach a place where there is no separation, inner and outer are one.
You don’t become awareness. You already are awareness.
There’s no one who believes in awareness, there’s only being it. Consciousness, in the form of this body, is simply how awareness experiences itself. It’s the expression of awareness. The “I Am” we feel so deeply… is nothing other than the sacred name of awareness itself.
As the documentary Beyond Thought beautifully explores, we must move beyond mental analysis into direct experience. (You can watch it here: Beyond Thought – Top Documentary Films)
And so to my friends, I offer this:
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and right-doing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.”
~ Rumi
With Love and Silence,
Irma Francis