Silence, Not Solitude

"Silence, not solitude."  I read that somewhere and it stuck with me.  What a wonderful thing to strive for!  Our suburban lives are definitely not silent.  Granted, I don't believe anything is truly silent unless you perhaps seal yourself in a bubble, which I am not recommending here.  When I considered the idea of silence, it seems to me it would be turning off the electrical background noises and listening to the natural sounds around us - wind blowing through the trees, birds calling, the sound of footfalls in the snow.

I turned the radio off in my car today for my drive this morning.  As I dropped my daughter at school I could clearly hear her conversation and she commented about the sounds the tires made as I drove over the snow.  I thought, "This is what I'm missing!"  My drive into work was also different.  I tires plowed through the wet slushy snow.  I could hear the heater since it was quite cold this morning.  But these sounds became soothing as they were so repetitive.  I felt I was paying way more attention to my driving and had so much time to just think it was nearly scary!

In light of this experiment, I've determined the radio is inconsequential to my life.  I do not need to hear the songs on the radio, if I need music I can happily sing or hum a tune of my own inclination.  I definitely won't miss the advertisements or news.