The Sound of Quiet~

First, I have to tell you that I love that I get to share this with you.

In one of my last post, there were 3 short words that seem to have resonated

in our home recently.

"Quiet the Noise."

I should first admit that I am probably a bit hypersensitive.

I have good ears, a good sniffer, good eyes though do have 

wear readers now which I'm not thrilled about.

At our house up the mountain, 

I could tell when the well pump kicked on just by the "sound"

and could feel the pressure in the house.

Yea, I know it sounds odd.

Guess I'm just odd, what can I say.

(The Rosemary is blooming.)

Anyhoo. . . 

I seem to be on a continual mission to nix the noise,

visual, audio, all of it.

We recently had the son of some friends come and stay with us

for a couple nights.

He is 28 and claimed that he was a night-owl

preferring to go to bed late.

(We had warned him that we were early-risers).

After the first night,

I asked if he slept alright.

He said, "Yea, really good actually."

He had evidently gone up about 20 minutes after I had

when Hubby went to take a shower.

He slept about 10 hours each night!

It was really pretty funny.

He was shadowing Hubby at work to get a sense of what we do.

He's wanting to go into the field and had questions.

He got to smith a steak turner and was thrilled.

It's busy and loud at work (metal-fabrication).

Then when we go home,

it's quiet, no TV, not a lot of "stuff" clanking or beeping about.

It was fun to see him unwind

and probably odd for him to feel.

What it told me though, is I'm on the right track.

We don't realize how screens and background noise and even odors

effect and stress us.

We need the silence sometimes.

For us, it was more sound in our home than usual.

It was another body, another shower, drink of water and

the sounds one makes simply by being

and of course we chatted :-)

I've been telling Hubby for ages that if he wakes in the middle of the night

which he does often, not to read on his phone.

He finally said the other morning as we were drinking coffee,

"I think the screen does something in the brain to keep us awake."

He has the blue-light blocker, but could still tell the difference.

He said he read in the hunting synopsis

and then was able to go back to sleep.

(Can you see me slapping my forehead?)

Actually, I am grateful he figured it out.

I am very aware of how certain things affect me,

but trying to explain to others who can't relate

because they've never felt the peace that happens

when it's quiet can be perplexing.

We obviously have screens, but we try to keep it reasonable.

 It was wonderful to see that it's not just us "old-folks."

And it makes me think how much better off children

could be if certain things were put in check.

I will say, it feels as good to get rid of audial clutter

as it does to get rid of visual clutter.

I'm not finished with either of course~

that would be too good :-)

But I keep plugging away.

Every bit of clutter sent on its way or noise quieted

allows for a little deeper breath and peace of mind.

The other thing that becomes noticeable is what remains.

The sounds of a bird chattering or the wind chime hanging by the back stoop.

Gentle sounds remain and sing to ones soul.

For me, it was an accident.

I started by wanting to lower our power bill 

so went through each room and unplugged everything.

As an item was needed, I would plug it in.

I was surprised at how few things got plugged back in

and how much quieter the house felt.

The little charging lights or vibrations create a sort of "noise".

Again, it's an ongoing process.

We seem to go through phases,

but I know now to look for things to unplug. 

If you're feeling overly stressed,

maybe begin by unplugging and listening for the quiet.

The quiet we hear penetrates and brings quiet to us inside.

I wish for each of you that peace.