We really had Sunday Silence some twenty years ago, in my country. We did’t pay much attention to it, however. You don’t really pay attention to something not being there, when that’s the rule on Sundays.  Until you had guests from America telling you that  that was very special for them. That natural freedom from penetrating sounds and daily chores, that you took for granted.  On Sundays.

But this freedom from noise and all kinds of work in the house, meant that we always had the sunday to land our stress and collect ourselves. Restore our emptied energy, so to speak, and our courage to move on for a new week.

Last Sunday one of my sons wanted me to take a walk with him in the woods. He was nervous, he said, for his exam the next day, and needed to vent his head. I was occupied with an overview of the prosperity for the richest in the world, in relation to the poor. Therefore, I did not really fancy this setback. Nevertheless, I said yes, both for his sake and the fact that once you get out, the Sunday trip*  is usually an enjoyable experience for both body and mind.         (* footnote on the history of sunday walks at the end of article)

Breaking the silence

My son and I started down the trail walking rather fast. It wasn’t long before I noticed him relaxing. He commented the fresh air, the beautiful lake, and the great atmosphere out there. I couldn’t more agree.

 Ice skating on the lake, photo janeriwaa

Not long after, however, I was at it again, talking about my concern about the world’s distribution of wealth. Especially the future for all of us, if the richest became richer now, when already only 8 people owned more than half the world’s wealth. That would be the end of democracy. We would get oligarchy, if we hadn’t already got it. A form of government with a few rich who ruled the world as it suited them. While the rest of us, excess of 7.3 billion people had to dance for them.

On the path around the lake, photo janeriwaa

I noticed that my son was tense again. – Can’t you stop talking about stuff like this when we are out hiking, he said. I saw that he was upset. I had broken the silence he needed in contact with nature to regain the confidence in himself and the impending exam.

I had shrunk his necessary space for quiet contemplation and reflection, needed to catch up again. This is a psychological space where large everyday concerns can be small, and small everyday pleasures large.

An outlet of a brook, photo janeriwaa

Soundaholics addicted to sounds.

Maybe we have all become more and more dependent on a constant sound surrounding us. Perhaps we have become ,soundaholics needing rehab? Just as we have become addicted to having Iphones and smartphones available wherever we go.

More and more people wear earphones or plugs in their ears. We need to be online all the time, if not to be left behind. But what is it that is really left behind? Isn’t it actually, the freedom to just be present here and now, inside or outdoors. Places where the only thing we can hear is the blood roaring in our ears, the heart beating, and the wind that blows in the treetops. Or the free floating thoughts, flying like birds across the water.

    Sun setting at the seaside this sunday, photo janeriwaa

• In our country, it’s a national occupation going for a Sunday walk together. The bourgeoisie in the major cities have been doing it for over a century. Inspired by the Norwegian polar explorers, especially Frithjof Nansen, which spread the idea of ​​ the salutary effects of outdoor recreation, – we all believe that it is very healthy.Gradually this trend has spread to ever more sectors of the population, both young and old. (This has of course also something to do with the fact that industrial work and ordinary physical labour has been much reduced the last decades)            A Sunday walk in one of the the city parks, unknown source
  

  I’ve tried to find statistics on this, but I can’t say it seems reliable enough for just Sunday walks. The trend in a survey of living conditions in Norway from 2016, which covers the period from 2001 to 2016, indicates that we are both exercising, jogging and walking increasingly more. In 2001, 66% of the population over 16 years, had exercised or been walking more than once a week. In 2016 this percentage had risen to 83% of the population. (Central Bureau of Statistics, Survey of Living Conditions 2016)

    Sunday is a day to teach the children to use skis in winter,photo janeriwaa

  As long as I’ve lived, Norwegians in the metropolitan area have walked on some sort of a Sunday trip. Today’s walk around one of our beautiful lakes was no exception.

  “To go for a walk two or three times a week can do wonders for your body, and is the best protection against cardiovascular disease. The activity accelerates metabolism, helps reduce blood pressure, keeps blood sugar in balance and strengthens bones. “ That is what fitness and nutritionist Kjersti Bjerkan at Ullevål Hospital claims. (VG. 9.sept 1998)

                                     “This is how you do it guys”, photo by Skiforeningen
  

  Often this “outdoor expedition” is the only way to get back some of that Sunday silence that lingered over the city earlier. Then it was even possible to get bored if you had talent for it. And for me this silence seems to be even as important a factor for our health as the physical exercise.

• Frontpage photo by janeriwaa