It allows for a sense of accomplishment, along with knowing we are part of the bigger pattern. It reminds us that while the specifics may be new, this struggle for identity and security is as old as the species. Wonder allows us to savor the moment. It also creates the space for learning and makes us aware of the vast array of choices that always face us when we stop to consider them. Touch is to experience and the only way to overcome our loneliness.
Silence is time.
It is going slow in order to go fast. It is clearing out the clutter we create when we do not pause to listen, absorb, to truly learn from a story. Despite our fear that silence means failure, a room full of profoundly moved, silent people can be the highest accolade the storyteller can receive. Often, when telling or retelling a story to effect change, the story needs to be set in another context in order for the listener to have enough detachment to hear new possibilities. And of course, the more rapport the storyteller has with their listeners, the more likely they will accept the lead to a new possibility for the story and themselves.