I may not have experienced an entire day of Grand Silence on Day #14, but I was able to successfully do some controlled speaking. After church, I went to a friend’s house to help him hang a large mirror, and we were able to finish the task with minimal conversation. 
The rest of the day was vocally silent, except for the sound of me blowing bubbles every 15 minutes. I’ve gotten into more of a rhythm with the exercises, and I’ve only spilled one of the bottles of water so far. The tone of my voice through the bubbles seems to be getting stronger, clearer. A couple times, the pitch of my voice rose higher than it has in quite some time. I’m not pushing at all. It just seems like my range is getting bigger. That’s a good thing!
Halfway through the afternoon, I realized it’s been quite awhile since I’ve played my guitar. Time to get some practice time in before SQ3’s next engagement at the end of June.
Tomorrow marks 2 weeks since my surgery. It’s really amazing how the human body works. If you give it proper rest and follow doctor’s orders, healing really can happen in a miraculous way.
And speaking of proper rest….
Therese, I just caught up on your blog. What a truly mindful and introspective way to reflect and get clarity around this process and how you are experiencing it. I can imagine that, to borrow Richard Rohr’s metaphor, introversion for the extrovert, may seem as unnatural as “Breathing Underwater”, until the foreign becomes familiar. I love how you incorporate your own recovery wisdom and spiritual practices. And I admire your intentional gratitude and positive attitude. This inspires me to use more writing/journaling in my life.