I had a moment at the gas station. Recently, I got out of my car, started to pump my gas, and realized that I rarely just hear the cars driving by. Normally there is gas station music or an advertisement playing. Rarely is it just quiet with the sounds of the world. It made me realize how little we actually enjoy silence.
Most people I know rarely do anything without some noise playing in the background, whether it’s YouTube while eating or music during studying; most don’t even exercise outside without music in their ears. It made me realize just how often we have audio drowning out the sounds of the real world, and I’ve been trying to break that habit.
I’ve been searching for moments to give myself silence. The one that I do most is getting ready without music. I used to wake up and have music playing from the moment I got out of bed to the moment I walked out the door, continuing to the car. Now, my morning routine consists of real-life sounds like my cats running around, and if it’s nice out, the birds chirping outside.
It has given me some moments of peace and quiet before beginning my day. Working in retail, most of my day is spent listening to the store playlist, customer conversations, and register sounds, so having some time to sit in quiet before that has been a calming start to my day.
It’s hard to break the habit when I am so used to listening to music or watching a show whenever I am doing anything, but realizing how loud the world is has given me a new perspective on it.
I hope we can all try to enjoy the quiet a bit more, giving ourselves moments of peace when we can.