Vow of Silence

Hello friends from the junglenoise! I’m excited to share with you all how my one week vow of silence went and what I learned. It means a lot to me that you guys are following my journey, this newsletter has been serving as a checkpoint marker for me throughout the past few months so thank you! For those who were not following me on instagram, last week I announced I would be taking a one week vow of silence because I was curious about what the role of speech was in the process of communication, from what places I was speaking from and why (ie. insecurity, fear, love, etc..) , and what the world around me looked like when I took up less space in it. So without further ado this is my little reflection piece!

Feb 6, 2025:

Funny enough not talking for a week has made me not want to be perceived even more, if not at all. And so I am finding it difficult even to write this reflection piece right now. Something about the process of sharing and its connection to one's ego gives me the sense that it muddies the water, whatever that means. As a naturally very expressive person, I am finding freedom in becoming a fly on the wall. This may sound very depressing, and I’m not saying I will stop talking or expressing myself either, I’m just questioning my need to share, to speak… where does that desire come from? This ties into my art as well… Art is so tied to ego… you get all the credit for what “you” made, and yet it feels so not like something I deserve credit for. I’m not sure if this makes sense, but I feel that the more you think you are responsible for what you create, the further away you are from the source in which all inspiration comes. As an artist there’s a part of me that just wants to hide, to roam freely in this secret world and only come out when there is something to say that I think would be helpful. The fact that art is tied to commerce kills me! The fact that all my mentors and professors implore me to be a walking advertisement of myself kills me. How dramatic right? Fully knowing I will be all over social media promoting music in the coming future, and yet this feels like where my heart really lives. The fact that the joy of sharing has become something I must monetize in order to pursue exploration with all of my heart, kills me! As for speech, not having it for a week has weakened my faith in it. Oh how little weight our words often carry and how flippantly we use them. How ungenuine do our hellos and our thank yous often feel? Though this may sound depressing, there’s also been a freedom in realizing this. I feel lighter when speaking to people, while simultaneously feeling less of a need to speak, and caring less about the words of others that so often get lost in translation and more about the intent behind those words. The faith lost in speech seems to have been transferred into a deeper faith in the power of action and art. Action because it really does speak louder than words. Art because it conveys things about reality in mysterious ways that can never be put into words; deeper truths you could say. I leave this week-long vow feeling bitter sweet that its over, yet newfound inspiration and freedom! I hope that I can continue to explore the things that my gut tells me to be important even if they seem to make no sense on the outside!

I actually wrote a much longer reflection, but I couldn’t bear the idea of sharing everything. I was a quiet, shy kid when I was very young, but I moved schools 5 times and adapted, I forgot about that quiet kid, it was nice to have him back! I’ve grown up to become someone who shares EVERYTHING, and I’ve always viewed honesty as my superpower. My hearts been on my sleeve for all to see, but since this week I’m starting to see that maybe it's ok that everyone doesn’t see my heart, at least not all of it. Maybe that should be protected and shared with those closest to me. And so I write this to you all from a genuine place in my heart, but not from all of it. My friends… There’s a rich inner world within each of us, explore it if you can!

love,

• Danny