I thought my friend was crazy for doing a silent retreat in Vermont

She came back from a week at this place in the woods with no phone or talking allowed. I figured it was just a weird fad for rich people with too much time. Then my own head got so loud after a bad work project that I booked a weekend at a cheaper spot upstate. Sitting alone in a cabin for two days with just a notebook felt like torture at first. But around hour 20, my brain just... stopped. I wasn't thinking about emails or what I said wrong in a meeting. I just watched a spider build a web for an hour. It wasn't magical, but it showed me how much noise I carry around for no reason. Has anyone else tried something like this and had it actually work?

4 comments

4 Comments

vera_lewis22mo ago

You said your brain just stopped around hour 20. What did you write in your notebook before that point, just complaints?

the_wyatt2mo ago

It was mostly just weird observations about the wallpaper pattern. What do you think happens when your brain shuts down like that?

the_diana1mo ago

I went to a meditation thing in a church basement once. Not silent, just guided. But there was this one guy who did a 10-day silent retreat in Massachusetts. He came back and wouldn't talk about it for a month. Just stared at walls. Finally he told me his brain felt like it had been washed with a garden hose. I didn't get it then. After my own weekend upstate, I got it. That spider web thing you described? I watched a moth sit on a windowsill for 45 minutes. It's not entertainment. It's like your mind finally takes a nap.

ellioth372mo ago

So did you keep the notebook after that spider moment, or was it all just venting like vera_lewis2 guessed?