Q – Quiet Time

My Theme this April is “My Muse Says…”

The Story Spark for this story was Hearing.

The writing prompt I took was – Sit in silence for ten minutes. What did you hear internally?

I was reminded of a time back when I was teaching 6th Grade. The following is what my muse said I should write. 

Q – Quiet Time

(A version of this appeared in my first A to Z Challenge in 2016. I’ve revised and updated it.)

In this day of electronic devices, how often do you see people walking with earbuds on listening to and/or watching their smartphone? I tend to be guilty of that too, at times.

What is missed is experiencing all the sights and sounds of our natural world. 

When it comes to writing, being in the moment is where much of creativity comes from.

When I was teaching 6th grade, I used to take my class out on day or overnight trips to nature preserves. The one activity that I liked the most, as did the kids, was Quiet Time.

Here were the rules:

• Each student had to find a spot anywhere on the grounds within visual and hearing distance of me and be prepared to stay there for a period of time in total silence. Usually, the time frame was between 15 and 30 minutes. They could bring writing materials and/or drawing materials with them.
• Once they found their spot, they had to sit there absolutely quiet for the full time.
• As the leader, I would ask the students to close their eyes for at least the first 5 minutes and just listen and feel. I might give them some prompts based on what I was hearing or feeling. (Can you hear the wind, the birds? Can you feel the sun, air? What do you smell? )
• After the 5 minutes were up, I let them open their eyes and create whatever they wanted with the materials that they had brought with them, as they continued to observe and listen.
• After the prescribed time, we would share.

We did Quiet time once a day while we were on those overnights. Quiet time brought out the best writing and illustrations that my students ever did. What was great about Quiet Time was that once I had taught the concepts to my students and they got to experience it outside in a quiet natural environment, I could now choose to have them do it in other types of environments, such as the school playground and in the classroom (which worked great on rainy days). It was amazing how the students internalized the process of being quiet and listening to sounds around them, even in a noisy atmosphere, and were able to create.

There’s a fable about listening that fits Quiet time. Had I known it way back then, I probably would have shared it with my class before introducing Quiet time to them. You can read a version of it here: The Indian and the Cricket: A Fable.

Here are some of the writings and pictures that some of my students created during Quiet time. I end with one of my own. (You might have to zoom in to make the writing more readable:

So if you want to be creative, take out those earbuds, find a quiet spot, close your eyes, and become one with your environment. Then write, draw, play music, sing, or do anything you want that expresses what you’re doing. And share. Have fun.