Soupir: Rest Notes

In written music rest notes are marked just as all the other musical notes are indicated.  The rest notes are pauses of a certain length between notes.  Not every rest note is the same.  Some are whole rest notes, some are half, or quarter, or sixteenth rest notes.  The one pictured here is a quarter rest note.  I like it for its swoosh.  The French name for this rest note is “soupir,” which means a soft sigh, a soft exhale.   The pauses between the notes are precise and on purpose.  And they give greater voice to the composition of sounds on either side of them.
What would it be like to take precise and on purpose rests in our conversations?  To not rush to fill the space with words, but to let the words land, and to softly exhale before verbalizing the next thought.
Take a breath.  Allow your inhale to extend your energy up and out.  On your exhale see your breath like a slowly circling light winding through you and into the earth.  Notice the space above and below you and around you.  Allow gravity to relax your shoulders.  Ask yourself the question, “What would it be like to have a few more rest notes in my conversations today?”