True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is
to the body, nourishment and refreshment.
to the body, nourishment and refreshment.
William Penn
In the days of smart phones, podcasts, and having 17 tabs open in your internet browser, how often do we allow silence? I remember first pondering this when I got an iPod, 4 or 5 years ago. As much as I loved the fact that my favorite songs could now be in my ears while walking to the metro or (gasp!) grocery shopping, what about being alone with my thoughts?
This morning, on my drive to work, I got in the car and realized that my stereo was turned off, likely because I was talking on the phone at the end of my drive home yesterday. Rather than queue up the usual Katy Perry playlist, I decided to continue my drive with no music.
I'm not going to lie, there were several times right at the beginning that I instinctively reached for the power button of the stereo, but after about 10 minutes, I began to let myself enjoy the experience. I marveled at the hum of my little Honda, still peppy after our 7 years together. I giggled as the service van that pulled up beside me at a stoplight was blaring a Jennifer Lopez song. I took a few deep breaths and watched the leaves swirl in the wind.
But silence isn't just the absence of actual sound, it's not distracting yourself with "noise" of any kind. I want my experiment this morning to be a stepping stone to turning off (or not turning on) other things that disrupt silence -- not checking my e-mail as soon as my eyes open each morning, not pulling out my iPhone to check Facebook and Twitter when I'm waiting in line at the bank, not reflexively turning on the TV as soon as I arrive home. I want to allow myself to just be.
7 comments:
I found myself doing the exact same thing a couple of months ago, and wrote about it. I amuse myself with just letting my thoughts wander, and then backtrack, to see just exactly what meandering my mind can do.
Enjoy the silence...it can be so refreshing!
Mmm, silence. It's one of my favorite simple pleasures. There was a time when I was commuting about 2 1/2 hours a day and feeling very agitated at being in the car in awful Chicago traffic. I started driving to/from work without the radio on quite often, and it made such a huge difference. I noticed that the typical annoyances didn't bug me as much when I was surrounded by quiet. I'm sure it has everything to do with being more present and centered with myself when I'm not distracted by what's going on around me.
This is the very reason I was so hesitant to start a twitter account...I'm actually still sorta regretting it and may not have it for long. At least I don't have a smartphone, so I'm not tempted to check it every second. :(
I purposefully have a moratorium on my smart phone/twitter/kindle/laptop/tv use btw 530-8...mostly because of the kiddo
but I love that the time with her is uninterrupted
and I often find myself past 8 and not having touched any of those things yet!
I could totally use this idea! I feel my days with a toddler are particular high pitch ;) And just like you, I immediately get out my iPhone when I am waiting in line. It's like I can't just be! I go back and forth about whether it's a problem for me - but I could experiment and see if I feel more relaxed if I stop reaching for a device and be still instead.
I am so guilty of having 20+ tabs open in Chrome at any given time.
When the browser inevitably crashes, I sigh a huge sigh of relieve. I was probably never going to attempt that craft in pinterest and I should not have filled my Sephora cart with that much makeup. ;)
Thanks for this reminder of the importance of silence. <3
When Owen naps, I don't always clean. I either rest in silence to refresh myself, knit, journal, write, or read. At night, while writing and knitting, I *almost* never cue up Netflix. My brain is always scrambling, it seems. So I try to let those moments be the time for my brain to just unwind itself. You are so articulate, lovely friend. MUAH!
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