A falling tree makes more noise than a growing forest, or so an anonymous proverb tells us. I think it contains a great deal of truth that we would be wise to rediscover daily. Ignoring the good in life does not correspond to realism of any kind. And the good is often found in the most immediate and prosaic of things— like the gift of others’ lives, the treasure of time, the miracle of nature, the magicin things, or soaking in color and form with one’s eyes. We do not do justice to reality when breathlessly hurrying around, anxious and impatient zapping, and bulimic on novelty (Lipovetsky).

As Luis Ventoso recently recalled, in the information world, the saying goes that, "good news is not news." Good news is bad news, which is why we live besieged by bad news, including the crime, accidents, betrayals and ruptures that screens and loudspeakers screech at us, stealing our attention and canceling out the space of calm where amazement lies, where we can consider things as they are. But could we not try a little harder to escape the dictatorship of screens and palaver so as not to live as drug addicts of the raging news, which nobody even remembers the next day?

Fortunately, it is always in our power to stop this vicious cycle and give way to a peaceful and harmonious existence that is more beautiful and intense. It is a matter of setting our own rules and shaking off those that the invasive offers of the market impose. Could we not be more imaginative and creative, and less carefree, when it comes to planning what to do with our leisure time?

I am rather old school and believe we should generate slower spaces with silence if we want to savor the taste of the world and of life, discovering it fromas early as possible, childhood. Reading is one of those spaces, but not the only one— walking, contemplation of nature, scenery, museums, a relaxed conversation, games are part of it too. While I cannot attest to this, the experts say that certain "boredom" enhances creativity. I can definitively say, however, that the perpetual hum of the TV and the daze of social networks eviscerateour neurons.

Without an approach that includes listening, life’s noblest and realest things go unnoticed, for example, parents’daily sacrifices for their children; the punctual fulfillment of trade’s tasks so that things work; the care with which services are provided to anonymous masses; the patience with which tasks are done that perhaps nobody appreciates; the far-reaching world of teaching and humanitarian professions, lacking in luster and supporters.

Like I said at the beginning, "A falling tree makes more noise than a growing forest," which makes silence and tranquility absolutely necessary for hearing the noise of agrowing forest, that is to say, the healthy throb of life, that which does not crack or squeak. As the Poet Constantino Molina eloquently portrayed, "If we were ever silent / how the trees are silent, the clouds / and the stones, the trees, the clouds and the rocks could be heard... / Just be quiet, let the world sing / and hear its fleeting voice to understand it. ”Yet, today the news covers sudden events, not gradual change. Do we have the patience to wait?

Perhaps we will realize one day that we contribute more to the world with this listening attitude, seemingly sluggish and naïve, than with anxious and compulsive activism. "Executioners do not write history, nor do the Goebbels or Molotovs of the world. Honest people do; they have the last word [...] Good also exists! It’s not all just evil and the devil and stupidity. Evil is more energetic, it can strike like lightning or Blitzkrieg; the good, however, likes to lag a bit, however disconcertingly strange that is... But the good returns quietly and without haste” (Adam Zagajewski).

With this conviction, we would do well tosavor the prayer from the Mass’s liturgy that says, "It is truly right and just, our duty and salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks.”With it, we can do justice to reality—we are more realistic and less catastrophic. We have the chance now, in the midst of the banging and clanging of politics, to contemplate the mysteries of Holy Week and Easter to purify our vision and rectify, where necessary, our point of view.