Recently, I went on a three-day silent meditation retreat. No talking, no communicating in any way, no reading, no writing – that is all part of noble silence taught in Buddhism. I loved not talking – no chit chat, small talk over meals; no explaining myself, or talking about myself; no being bombarded with a lot of noise coming at me or the din of 100 voices talking at once – just silence.

As a pediatric nurse practitioner, I’ve seen a lot in my 30+ years of practice. I’ve seen babies born, children get sick and get better, and I’ve seen children die. I’ve seen more of this than most people see in a lifetime, many lifetimes.