Pause.

He said, in leadership
–like symphonies–
the stunning
moments lie
in silence at the end,
in waiting,
not rushing in.
I thought of how
that’s true
in other things
as well,
in nature,
and in Shakespeare,
in skiing,
and in love.
Such stillness
is healing
not an absence,
a meeting,
not a missing,
vitality that grows
within the power
of the pause.

Judy Brown. “Leadership Like Symphonies.” From The Sea Accepts All Rivers.

A man once asked Rumi, “Why is it you talk so much about silence?” His
answer: “The radiant one inside me has never said a word.” . . .
“Solitude is a fount of healing which makes my life worth living.”

Coleman Barks. The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems.