Emily's list: Shhhh. It's Silence Day

On this day in 1925, Meher Baba, an Indian mystic and spiritual leader, began a vow of silence that lasted until his death 44 years later. His followers observe July 10 as Silence Day to commemorate his passing. Baba communicated with unique hand gestures and an alphabet board.

Why did he stop speaking? Baba claimed himself to be an avatar, which in Hinduism means someone who is an incarnation of a spiritual being or deity. "Man's inability to live God's words makes the avatar's teaching a mockery," he said. "Instead of practicing the compassion he taught, man has waged wars in his name. Instead of living the humility, purity and truth of his words, man has given way to hatred, greed and violence. Because man has been deaf to the principles and precepts laid down by God in the past, in this present avataric form, I observe silence."

Going silent for 44 years is a bit extreme, but going silent for a day really isn't a bad idea, and it doesn't have to be about religion or spirituality. Sometimes words are full of meaning, but sometimes they are just time-fillers without any meaning at all. Words also allow us to make excuses ("I'm in debt because I HAD to take that vacation to Hawaii!").

Silence, on the other hand, allows us to think and find peace and clarity. So whether you are Hindu or athiest, make sure to allow yourself some silence today, and embrace it. Think about what you want out of life and what is holding you back from that. Think about your personal finance goals and what you need to do to achieve them. What is keeping you from paying off that lingering credit card debt? What are you going to do to get that bad credit score higher?

Here's another way to enjoy the silence: Read on to enjoy some very thought-provoking blog posts from the past week about credit cards and debt.

1. Bargaineering says that for certain types of payments, it makes more sense to pay with actual cash rather than using a credit card to get cashback rewards.

2. Christian Personal Finance shares his thoughts about credit cards and explains what he did with his credit cards that you should avoid.

3. Cash Money Life offers a guest post that discusses the difference between debit cards and credit cards and the pros and cons of each.

4. A guest post on Mrs. Micah ponders life after debt and wonders if those who are once debtors will always be debtors.

5. The Simple Dollar explores key points from a new Dave Ramsey book about debt and discusses debt myths.

6. Master Your Card warns readers that it is possible to catch the swine flu from credit cards (yikes!) and offers tips on staying safe and healthy.

7. My Dollar Plan has a guest post that can help you understand the long-term impact of your purchases, which can help you get out of debt.

8. Every year, we vow not to spend too much money during the winter holidays, but we somehow always end up in debt. Being Frugal explains why you should start planning for the holidays now in order to save money later.

9. Bad credit can come back to haunt you, but what if you are denied things because of bad credit when you actually have good credit? The Consumerist discusses a recent situation in which this happened.