When My Inner Dialog Goes Silent

Sometimes my thoughts go quiet, the voices in my head stop talking and my mind becomes more sponge than fountain.

Usually my mind swirls with issues, concerns, or just random ideas. My thoughts may focus on simple things, like the turn of a phrase or I may ponder some little idea. Sometimes my mind is full of concerns, things that bug me for no particular reason, or things that I believe should bug everyone but do not seem to.

But every now and then my mind shuts up. It doesn’t shut down or stop working. It just stops judging, it stops suggesting, it stops puzzling. Instead of pushing or tinkering, it lays quiet and listens. It absorbs.

When my mind gets in that state, it can be very quiet and calming. But it is also a bit unnerving. I wonder where I am or if something is wrong. I enjoy being less judgmental, but I feel like I am less engaged, detached. I enjoy having fewer worries, but it almost feels like being ill, like not being myself.