There was silence today when I woke up. No motors from cars, or trucks, or airplanes, or helicopters. No jackhammers, or power drills, or bulldozers. No voices, no footsteps. No television or music. It was clear, unencumbered silence...and it was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. In the age of 23.5 hour work days, and cities that never sleep, it is a rarity, indeed, that one should wake up without being immediately bombarded with the racket of the hustle and bustle of the world "taking care of business." This constant inundation of the senses, especially with sound, goes virtually unnoticed by most people; we've all acclimated to the capitalistic society that we live in...gotten used to having products (whether it's food, music, clothing..."things" in general) constantly slapping us in the face, and maybe even started to enjoy the almost seductive excitation that comes with the knowledge that there's always something goin' down.
But why can we no longer appreciate reticence? There are so few times when we are free from stimulation that people have actually come to fear moments of quiet. If you are looking to make someone uncomfortable, the sure fire way to accomplish that is simply to turn off the television and stop talking. The other person will immediately start writhing in distress, and their neurons will start firing at a supersonic rate, trying to come up with something...ANYTHING to say to liven the dead air.
But why?
Personally, I find silence quite comforting, but that's probably because I spent a lot of time in my own head as a child...or perhaps because I grew up in a tiny house, with multiple younger siblings, who never stopped talking, and a break from the chaos was a miracle from the gods...either way, this preoccupation with being constantly stimulated (in one way or another) has got to stop.
Take a time out, and enjoy some silence today.
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