It's quiet in here. The kids are asleep. The dog is asleep. Mike is at a movie. I had the television on, but the recorded show I was watching is over. All I hear is the tapping of my fingers on the keys and the hum of electronics plugged in.
I hate to sound stereotypical, but the older I get, the more I enjoy -- even crave -- this kind of quiet. If it weren't for the kids, the radio in my car might go for days without use. My kids seem to be able to filter out noise that I just can't tolerate. It's nothing for the television to be on in one room, a computer game buzzing and ringing in the next room, and a radio to be on two rooms over.
It's too much for me. I like to think that I'm a pretty good multitasker, but I just can't think straight when there is so much noise competing for my attention. Earlier tonight, on the way home from church, the radio was on and the kids were bickering and chattering in the back seat. We drove past a hotel and I suddenly had this fantasy of checking into a hotel all by my lonesome for the night, just for the quiet.
Sometimes I think I'd do well on one of those silent retreats -- though people who know me well, might disagree. My biggest challenge would not be the auditory silence. It would be the electronic silence.
I've gotten quite good and shutting off/out the noise that hits my eardrums. But I'm not so good at shutting out the noise that bombards my eyes and my intellect. The stream of Facebook messages, the endless collection of e-mails, even short 140 character messages on Twitter can take up some pretty hefty space in my head.
I don't really have a plan in place, but I do think that I'm going to try to build some more of that quiet into my days. Maybe just 10 or 15 minutes. No laptop. No phone. No circular parade of pontential blog posts rolling through my brain.
Just me. And the quiet. And the hum of silence.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
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7 comments:
i think that will be harder for you than avoiding the couch!!!
If you had checked into that hotel, they'd have put you in a room next to the elevator and the ice machine and your neighbor would have a dawn flight and slam the door as leaving. ;-)
Yes. This.
Funny how the things we used to take for granted (5 minutes of actual silence) are so precious to us any more.
I'm a fan of silence, too. I like noise and bustle but quiet is a gift.
A friend of mine has a deal with her husband where they take turns every few months getting a hotel via Priceline for downtown Indy or something and one parent stays with the kids and the other parents gets a night and day away. I think I need to look into that.
When I last traveled for work (back in Sept), the best part was stepping into that hotel room, laying on the bed, not moving, not hearing, just... being.
I hate to tell you this, but I think it's an age thing. Next month I will be that "OMG I'm gonna be 50 next year" age, otherwise known as 49. Had the same experience at 29..Sigh.... The older I get, the more intolerant I am of noise. NOT good when I still have 8 & 6 year old girls who have friends. Need to keep my hair long so no one will see my ear plugs! ;-)
That much silence would point out to me what I already know- that my brain never shuts up!
As I type this, my house is dead quiet, and I love it. (I took the day off for some appointments, and I'm the only one home.) I LOVE it when the power goes out in the house; the silence is like a hug to my hears :)
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