Manifesto There is the silence of the unspoken thought. There is the stunned silence, watching buildings explode into flames. There is the silence of love, of contemplation, of words when we don't know what to say, or believe that some words are better off unsaid. Those words, however, are there, in our hearts and minds. It is given to us to peel back the layers, to reveal the truth to ourselves, and hopefully to others, even if we don't understand the truth when we find it. Our purest understanding is often left in silence, in a place where we know something to be true, and we can sense the importance, but we find no easy way to describe the sensations we feel. In other cases, perhaps more commonly, when confronted by life situations that we find difficult and bewildering, we accept the easy metaphor. This is the easy answer, sound bite or propaganda slogan that promises understanding and insight in small quick portions. These small bits promise more than they deliver, creating a white noise of unrelated bits of data, unconnected in context. In reality our lives, all lives, are more complex and subtle than that. Truths may be simply spoken, but those truths are meant to be treated like seeds to plant in our hearts, not walls to hide behind. Should we fail to speak out, should we choose to leave the silence unexplored, we are all the less for it. Silence is the most sublime form, the space between the notes, the pause that reveals, but out of that silence, out of that void, is the greatest potential for creativity and revelation. It is in this spirit that this journal is being conceived and created. The theme of La Silencia is that of speaking out of the silence. In the sharing of our personal stories, we build a latticework of relationships that expands to our society at large. As it has been said, none of us are islands to ourselves. All political actions, all public policies, either support or contradict the truths of our stories. We, the editors of La Silencia, will provide a medium for the expression of personal narratives. We hope that, through this effort, our readers will find a commonality with others in their thoughts and struggles, that both our readers and contributors will find new insight into issues that ultimately affect us all, and finally, that our readers will be willing to share their own stories. We hope that through our efforts at providing a medium for personal expressions of individual experiences that La Silencia becomes a source of thought-provoking content. We will accept submissions of material that is intended to convey a universal theme with a personal viewpoint. We are not a literary arts journal: La Silencia is looking for material based on life experiences with a personal voice. Please review this site's contents and contact us if you wish to submit. Abigail Rothberg, Editor Stephen Michael Barnes, Consulting Editor

 

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