Hi Eduardo,

What a brilliant enquiry.

I'd like to echo what Open said, and also add that often, especially in the beginning of this enquiry, you are dropping all of your automatic responses to situations. This is why it can appear that you are being quiet, because you are giving the space for authentic expression to arise - which may take a while as you become more practiced in feeling what that is.

I know for me, I am often judged as being very quiet in daily life. And I have asked myself exactly the same questions as you. I thought that somehow I no longer had a personality because as everyone around me was engaging, inside me was only silent awareness.

Then I came to realise that this WAS my authentic expression because I simply no longer connected with what people were talking about. Then it took me some time to process and be completely okay with this realisation. So now, I will often be present in conversations that don't stir my soul, such as at work. It's not that I have anything against what is being said (I may speak out of that's the case). It's simply that I am no longer that interested. In which case I have observed that it's sometimes right for me to go, and sometimes right for me to stay as just by being present I establish (it seems to me) a deeper soul connection with those around me, than just engaging on the surface level.

I have observed that being quiet is my authentic expression but it is not my personality, as others have judged it to be - as I'm sure other people will judge you to be too. In other situations when I connect with people and feel to engage I can be very outgoing. My partner has observed I can be a bit of a chatterbox (someone who talks a lot). And there's me thinking, 'what?!' I've never been called that before. And in gatherings such as the Openhand retreats I can be very social and outgoing. So don't take on others judgements of you. Just because you're quiet in many situations, that doesn't mean that you're always a quiet person - it's just you being authentic in that moment.

Best wishes,

Rich