Is silence gold?

We have all heard the old saying that silence is gold. But is it really so nowadays, or at any time? How much can silence help us, and how much has it hindered us?

Revolutions did not rise by silence from protest, nor by standing still. Likewise, the changes that take place throughout life do not come slowly, quietly and imperceptibly, but violently, loudly, with lightning speed. Where silence rests, our fears of jumping into the world, showing our true face, are hidden. We are all heroes, when it comes to what we stand for with words, but, practicing that silence too much, we forgot to act, we hid so that we would not be swallowed by darkness. How much are we heroes then, when we do not know how to say what bothers us, change what suffocates us, point out to others their shortcomings, say no to violence, misery, theft, trouble?

We crawl through columns and rows, thinking that someone else will do what it takes to balance everything out and make the world a nicer place to live. We don’t have time today, they will definitely have someone else. Someone will stop somewhere, look around, help strangers, those next to whom we once walked, without looking away.

Someone will wave a magic wand, to remove all the mighty injustice inflicted on all beings. Someone will be fighting for jobs while we sit at home and think about how much we have actually helped just by thinking in that direction. Will it, really?

What do we teach our children by going through life as blind travelers? Why do we teach them not to raise their voices, when something is being done to their and our detriment? Too much silence leads to a society of fear, wrapped in its own cocoon, unable to take care of itself, let alone others. People who will just talk and whine, but are not used to doing anything. They are waiting for Godot, hoping to save them and lift them from the bottom where they are.