Good silence versus bad silence

I feel there are two types of silence. Good silence, the type I experience when I'm walking in the woods listening only to rustling leaves, or when I'm sitting still on a sandy seashore, the silence being broken by the sound of the water unfolding onto the beach - bliss.
Then there's bad silence.  To me this is when there is no sound, only thoughts churning and turning over and over, relentless, exhausting chatter which is seemingly uncontrollably loud and inescapable.  Silence when you wish for the phone to ring so you could hear the voice of someone who is no longer here, silence that is painfully loud and carries such an awful emptiness.
Today I rang some friends to hear the voices of some of the folk I love and care about who are here right now.  Their stories, laughter and lightness beautifully filled my ear and my heart.
Silence is good, and a very necessary escape from the loudness of our full on lives, which rarely has volume control!  Do take time to appreciate the moments you can sit in peace, but if the headmind starts dragging you down a melancholic road don't stay there too long, speak to those people who matter to you and remind yourself how fortunate you are to have them in your life.
"See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence, see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to touch souls." - Mother Teresa of Calcutta.