Understanding Silence

Have you ever found yourself in an awkward conversation? Perhaps an awkward dinner conversation with new people or people that are not new, but seem new because you haven’t seen them in years. I found myself in just such a situation. My question is this: why all the awkwardness? Why was I struggling for new words to dampen the silence? Could it be a lack of vulnerability that produces the rigid conversation? Perhaps with people we know the silence is not awkward, in fact, it can be a welcomed moment where the people engaged in the communication enjoy the nearness of the company or the communicator. And maybe, just maybe, the nearness in those moments is more satisfying than the spoken word or anything else.