Quiet

Something happened last week that really got me reflecting. In a group setting each of us was saying one adjective to describe another. Someone said to me ‘Elle est calme’ , She is quiet.  This is something not new to me. All my life from young adult I have heard  ‘you are quiet’ or those trying to be funny have said ‘you talk too much’ or other such statements that made the rest of a group chuckle.  These words I came to dread, I felt less than others, somewhat different and not quite up to scratch. I would watch others in group settings and see them butt in, not hold the thoughts or message the other had said, make witty asides, speak louder to be the dominant voice, not be able to actually comment on each other’s words. It’s not better than it’s just different.
So now to last week I realised after that it didn’t bother me. It has been a long time since I’ve heard these words. I am content with quiet because I know the power and strength it holds. I know it’s value and mine and now in this fast paced world of busy -ness people are turning to mindfulness, to meditation, to slow cooking ,slow living and slow stitching.
I stitched my ‘quiet’ onto a piece of the mint dyed cotton that waited quietly for all those months as the fabric took hold of the colour. It will be stitched to the inside of my Alchemists Apron so only I can see it to remind me of the value of quiet.