Honorable Mention / 2017 / Book Proposal (series Only) / Nature

Does silence and simplicity change a life?

  • Photographer
    Paul Christener, Switzerland

Do you know the movie "Gold Rush" by Charlie Chaplin? He once
said, "I always like walking in the rain, so no one can see me
crying." That is not why I spend time in nature when the sky is
covered by clouds.; Itit is because the landscape is reduced to a
few simple things.

In the 1950s, Swiss philosopher, Max Picard, wrote, "Nothing
has changed the nature of men as much as the loss of silence."
His statement can be debated, but for me, it has a bit of truth.

I watched two horses for half an hour. They didn't do more than
putting their heads together as if they were in a conversation.
Later, I left them with the feeling that my life makes sense when
I am offline from everything, during a silent moment in nature.

I ask myself,: doDoes silence and simplicity change a life?