pause and mute

A rest is a musical notation sign that indicates the absence of a sound
~ Wikipedia

I've been giving some thought to the importance of silence.  This came up, strangely, when I realized that I could filter out unwanted Instagram "noise" simply by clicking a button.  I also recently learned on Zoom that you could press "mute" on yourself or others to prevent unwanted feedback.

In a musical composition, notation is used to tell musicians exactly how to play and when to pause, rest or mute their instruments. They need to follow the score, keep an eye on the conductor, listen and count- especially the rests- until it's time to come in. This ensures the overall harmony of individual sections.

As wonderful as it may feel to express ourselves, if we want to produce harmony instead of dissonance, music instead of noise, we need to take a page out of the musician's book, and treat silence as important as sound.