The Need for Silence in a Noisy World
It is quite evident that we are living in one terribly noisy
world and it seems to be getting worse every day. Everywhere we
go we are accosted by loud, unwanted sound. When we enter
elevators, malls and restaurants we are engulfed by musak. I
recently had lunch at a popular restaurant and found the
background music so loud that it interfered with normal
conversation and the enjoyment of my lunch. When I asked the
waitress if she could turn the music off, or at least down, she
said, " I don't think we can." Surely we as a people are still
in charge of volume controls.
When you add lawnmowers, snow blowers, leaf blowers, jack
hammers, jet engines, transport trucks, and horns and buzzers of
all types and descriptions you have a wall of constant noise and
irritation. Even when watching a television program at a
reasonable volume level you are blown out of your chair when a
commercial comes on at the decibel level of a jet.
We seem to have created a cultural acceptance of our noisy
world in spite of the fact that it is making us ill physically
and psychologically. We can't seem to live without background
sound. We have friends who turn on the television the moment
they awaken in the morning and leave it on all day. The house is
just too quiet if it isn't on. Former highschool students of
mine used to tell me that the first thing they did on arriving
home after school was turn on their CD player as loudly as would
be tolerated by their parents.
Cornell University recently conducted a study to determine the
impact of noise on employees in an open area office space where
people are constantly exposed to fax machines, telephones,
office chatter, shredding machines, etc. Test results revealed
that workers in an open area had high levels of adrenalin in
their urine. Adrenalin is released by the body when under
stress. It prepares us for fight or flight. When these employees
were compared to those in self contained office spaces the
results were startling. People in a quiet, self contained work
area did not have the same high levels of adrenalin in their
urine. They were much more relaxed and less stressed.
A puzzle, demanding attention and concentration, was given to
both groups of employees. The open area group was found to be
less diligent in the solution of the puzzle becoming easily
frustrated and giving up much earlier than the group from the
quiet office. The study also found that workers from the quiet
office slept better at night, had better digestion, were much
less irritable at home and felt better at the end of their
workday than employees from the open concept office. Noise does
seem to effect focus, productivity and general physical and
psychological well being. Noise tends to increase stress levels
which in turn can result in increased frustration, anger and
strained interpersonal relationships. We must begin to establish
a friendship with silence.
How to Make a Friend of Silence
While we have very little control over noise in the environment
at large, we do have control over our own private environment.
This is where we begin to cultivate a friendship with silence.
* Make a conscious commitment to the experience and appreciation
of silence.
* Go for a walk in nature. Let the silence soothe your spirit.
* When you are alone in your residence turn off all noise making
appliances. Begin with fifteen minutes of silence and gradually
increase the duration.
* Learn how to meditate and schedule a ten minute meditation
period once or twice a day. Gradually extend your meditation
time.
* When driving to work, turn off your car radio and drive in
silence.
* Go camping for an night by yourself. Find a quiet campground
where they don't allow people to blast their music without
consideration for others. I usually go solo camping for one week
each year to be alone and silent in the outdoors. It has become
something I eagerly look forward to.
* Drive to a lake at sunset and rent a canoe. Paddle slowly
along the shoreline observing the silent sights and the gentle
sounds of nature as the sun sets and darkness approaches.
* In silence listen to your breathing. Get a sense of the silent
rhythm of life.
* Just before retiring go outside and look up at the night sky.
You will soon sense another universal rhythm so unfamiliar to
many. Let the night sky and the darkness embrace you and calm
you as you prepare for a night's rest.
* When you read a book, do so in silence. Many of us read to
music or during television commercials. Try silence. You'll grow
to love it.
Soon you will begin to cherish the periods of silence you have
built into your day and long for more. You will quickly discover
that you are becoming more relaxed and less tense even in the
midst of our noisy world. You will have made an invaluable new
friend of silence, a friend which can comfort, heal and soothe
your spirit. What a gift you will have given yourself.
Be still and know the restorative power of silence.