Finding Power In Silence | Leigh Marz & Justin Zorn

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We live in a noisy world– both literally and figuratively. In today’s point-counterpoint culture, it can be hard to silence the noise. But we need to learn how to. Because silence is the only way we can refine our perception and gain clarity. 

WELCOME TO THE DARIN OLIEN SHOW

Leigh Marz & Justin Zorn wrote the book on silence.

As a Harvard and Oxford-trained specialist, Justin Talbot Zorn has served as both a strategist and meditation teacher in the US Congress. He’s written for the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, Foreign Policy, and many more.

Serving as a collaboration and leadership coach for major universities, Leigh Marz is a long-time student of research on the ritualized use of psychedelic medicines in the West. She has led training programs to promote an experimental mindset among teams at NASA. Additionally, she’s been a part of a decade-long collaboration to reduce toxic chemicals in products, in partnership with Green Science Policy Institute.

Together, Justin and Leigh are the co-founders of Astrea Strategies, a consultancy that bridges contemplation and action. The company helps leaders and teams envision and communicate solutions to complex challenges. They also are the co-authors of the fascinating book Golden: The Power of Silence in a World of Noise.

This was one of my favorite episodes, 

mainly because it’s a topic that often gets neglected, or is hard to articulate. Both Justin and Leigh are obviously experts on silence, in so many different ways. In researching their book, they talked to people from all walks of life, from musicians to spiritual teachers, to get their takes on how silence can help improve our lives. Silence is subjective. So how we obtain it, and sustain it, can be different things to different people.  

According to Leigh and Justin, noise equals stress, and it comes at us in many different forms. Noise could be literal audible noise like loud distractions, noisy kids, or loud angry arguments. Or it could be the constant bombardment of distraction in your day-to-day life. That could amount to emails, social media, your job, your family, toxic relationships, etc. The bottom line is that we need to get better at quieting the noise and turning up the silence. Because, as Justin and Leigh say, all the problems we’re facing today require a higher level of thinking. And we’re never going to get there unless we can learn how to embrace the silence and gain perspective.