Communal Silence

I’m currently back in Nashville exactly a year after packing up my life and moving across the country.

I decided to go to my favorite coffee shop this morning and spend some time reading and writing. So, I’m sitting at Ugly Mugs alone when I see a group of eight 13-14 year old girls on summer break sitting at gathered tables reading books and writing together in silence. They’re sitting in their messy buns, curly hair, bright colored tank tops and t-shirts, and their overall shorts enjoying the summer weather in Tennessee. They occasionally look up and exchange words but go right back to their independent work. 

It made me emotional to see because some of my best memories come from sitting in their exact same spots. I can picture my college best friends and I gathered around tables with open bibles and books, sipping coffee, and journaling whatever felt important to us that day. It made me emotional because I want to tell them to enjoy every little bit of the gathered tables, the communal silence, and the sweet friends they have around them. It made me emotional because I want to tell them that at some point in life, they might find themselves in my shoes, doing exactly what I used to at gathered tables surrounded by my best friends except this time, I’m alone. While I’m so happy with where I and all of my friends are in life, a part of me will forever wish that I could have one more quiet morning of communal silence.