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?

3 comments

3 Comments

vera_lewis21mo ago

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

the_wyatt1mo ago

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

ellioth371mo ago

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