Hello silence, my old friend
I’ve come to soak you in again
The noise of modern life always keeping
Creative thoughts and ideas sleeping
All the visions, that are swirling in my brain
Will be in vain
Without the sound of silence.(with apologies to Simon and Garfunkel)
We live in a world filled with noise.
And when we’re tired of the noise, what do we do? We block out the noise with more noise.
Pop those earbuds in and tune out whatever we don’t want to hear—cars honking, dogs barking, the neighbors yelling, or family members talking. Jack up the volume and it all goes away. Or does it?
Some people appear to thrive in this noisy world. I am not one of them. Sometimes I feel like putting my hands over my ears and complaining, Grinch-fashion, “Oh, the noise! Oh, the Noise! Noise! NOISE! NOISE!”
What I crave is silence.
To some, silence may look like this:
But to me, silence is welcoming, a beautiful place of refreshment, rest, and happiness. To me silence looks like this:
Or this:
It is not that I don’t enjoy music, or parties, or happy conversation. I like all those things—in moderation. But when I want to think I need quiet. When I am working I keep my computer muted so I won’t be interrupted by anything, even beeps and pings. And I find websites with background music obnoxiously intrusive. Stop with the noise. Just stop!
True silence
For me, true silence is not an absence of sound so much as an absence of unwanted stimuli. The babble of a stream or the rustle of leaves can provide the peace and quiet I crave, while a muted TV is like a booming bass drum, invading my thoughts and stealing any hope of peace or concentration. And then there’s the internet, and its multifarious intrusions on my thinking. If I want to concentrate, Facebook, Twitter, Bloglovin’ and email must be shut down–Completely. Off.
Because thinking about all those blog posts and messages waiting for my attention weighs me down. I must stand firm and ignore them or they will hold me hostage. I need space to think, space not already filled with someone else’s ideas. Space to be me.
Facing the noise
Unless we live in a monastery or some very remote place, continual silence is not an option. Nor is it healthy. We humans were made to relate to each other, even the most introverted among us. But for those of us who crave silence, here are a few suggestions for living in our noisy world:
- Designate a “Noisy” day. Try setting aside an entire day to deal with “noisy” [read over-stimulating or overwhelming] things like marketing, phone calls, searching the internet for your niche, social media stuff or whatever else overloads your thinking circuits. Let’s face it, all that “noise” will suck the creative life right out of you, so give yourself permission to focus completely on those activities without feeling guilty that you’re not “producing.”
- Find a room of your own. I am fortunate to have a home office, where I can work in peace. (Although I find that I work best when I have not only the office, but the entire house to myself. Yes, I am really that bad.) If you do not have a space of your own, one where you can retreat when you crave quiet, try to find one. It might be at a local park, or a coffee shop. I have a friend with young children who does much of her writing at the library of a local college. Be creative, but find yourself a quiet place to call your own.
- Take a mini retreat. When I feel stressed, I pull out my i-pod and take a walk around the neighborhood. When I feel really stressed, I leave my i-pod at home and take a walk in the woods. A long walk. Alone. The quiet and beauty of nature restores me. What restores you? A visit to an art museum? A symphony performance? Give yourself time to experience whatever it is that will ease the stress and fill up the creativity tank.
Some of these suggestions are based on advice from the book Introvert Power by Laurie Helgoe, PhD. Check it out if you want to learn more about keeping your inner life healthy in this noisy world.
During childhood vacations, my sisters and I brought along our favorite cassette tapes to listen to in the car. Everyone got a turn to choose a tape. When it was my mother’s turn, she would often say, “I vote we listen to–SILENCE.” She got her wish (for as long as my sisters and I managed to remain quiet, anyway.)
Silence. It’s good for you.
When was the last time you enjoyed the sound of silence? Maybe you should give it a try. Your soul might thank you.
