the 'work' in silences

This section in Tony Buzan's "The Mind Map Book" jumped out at me today "...the space between items can be as important as the items themselves. For example, in Japanese flower arranging, the entire arrangement is based on the space between the flowers. Likewise in music the sound is arranged around a silence".

Twelve hours later, in the kind of synchronicity that so often happens, I heard classical guitarist Julian Bream on the radio on a programme about the lute ... "the silences are important in music -they provide the tension between the notes".

As it is in mentoring and Action Learning. These provide creative opportunities for silence - for reflection and to allow insights to emerge. A particularly 'insightful' question often brings a 'stopping' of words - and as a mentor or facilitator I can feel the palpable creative tension in that silence when I know that something is being revealed and realised within the person I am working with - a new meaning for them.