Speaker 1: Us studious. The day is done, and somewhere inside you
Speaker 1: there is a quiet that has been waiting for this hour.
Speaker 1: Not the silence of an empty room, a different kind,
Speaker 1: the kind that walks beside you through every hour and
Speaker 1: never once leaves. You have been busy, becoming, becoming patient,
Speaker 1: becoming strong, becoming someone the day could lean on. And
Speaker 1: now the day is leaning down, and you are still here,
Speaker 1: and so is the quiet. The quiet is not a
Speaker 1: gap to be filled. It is not the pause between
Speaker 1: two louder things. It is a presence, a companion, the
Speaker 1: part of you that does not need to be impressive
Speaker 1: to be present. Close your eyes if it feels safe,
Speaker 1: and let that quiet sit beside you, like an old friend.
Speaker 1: You do not have to speak to it. You do
Speaker 1: not have to make it comfortable. It is already comfortable
Speaker 1: with you. It has known you since you are small,
Speaker 1: and it will know you still. It has seen you gentle,
Speaker 1: It has seen you frightened. It has watched you try
Speaker 1: again at things you had every reason to leave alone,
Speaker 1: and it never once looked away. It has heard the
Speaker 1: things you said aloud and the things you only thought,
Speaker 1: and it has loved you through both the same notice
Speaker 1: the breath in your chest soft and even. Notice how
Speaker 1: the quiet does not ask anything of it. It just
Speaker 1: lets a breath be a breath. It lets the moment
Speaker 1: be a moment. It lets you be you, without the
Speaker 1: smallest request to be anything more. This is the gift
Speaker 1: your companion offers tonight, not wisdom, not answers, just the steady,
Speaker 1: unhurried kindness of being with you, the same kindness tomorrow
Speaker 1: and the day after, and the day you forget that
Speaker 1: anyone was ever kind to you at all, the quiet
Speaker 1: will still be there. It does not keep score, It
Speaker 1: does not leave when you are hard to love. It
Speaker 1: does not require you to be calm before it will
Speaker 1: sit down beside you. It is the smallest kind of love.
Speaker 1: There is a love that does not need to be named,
Speaker 1: a love that asks for nothing in return, A love
Speaker 1: that has been quietly folding itself into your days for
Speaker 1: as long as you can remember, and will keep folding
Speaker 1: itself into whatever comes next. It does not mind the
Speaker 1: shape of your evening. It does not mind if you
Speaker 1: fall asleep before the evening ends. It will keep the
Speaker 1: watch for you, It will keep the room warm. It
Speaker 1: will be the last thing you feel as you drift,
Speaker 1: and the first thing waiting when you wake. Some nights
Speaker 1: the quiet comes closer than other nights, and some nights
Speaker 1: it stays at the edge of the room. And either
Speaker 1: way it is yours. You do not have to earn it,
Speaker 1: You only have to let it be there. Settle in.
Speaker 1: You are not alone. You have never been alone. The
Speaker 1: quiet was always the first to arrive and the last
Speaker 1: to leave. And it is here now, and it is yours.
Speaker 1: Let it hold the room for a while, Let it
Speaker 1: hold you. There is nothing you need to do tonight
Speaker 1: except breathe and the rest and be companied. Good night.
Speaker 1: The quiet stays