“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde
I’m the kind of person that always has something playing in the background, whether it’s a podcast, YouTube video, or music. There’s something playing, constantly.
I recently had a conversation with my brother about this. He mentioned that in a sense it was abusing the beauty that those sounds are. They’re special, more or less, should be treated that way. I’m blessed to be in a position where I can listen to things nonstop and not have it interfere with my work or life, but not everyone is like that. I also brought it up in therapy, not necessarily as an issue but as a fact. I like noise, I need noise to block out the noise in my head. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to getting help, right?
Well yesterday, I went on a walk without headphones. This means if I wanted to listen to something it would have to be for the world to hear instead of just myself. I was not about to do this.
On my walk I let myself get in tune with all of my senses. How the ground felt as I walked, how the birds chirping sounded, how the sun felt on my skin, and more. All things I experience on a daily basis but didn’t pay attention to since I was distracting myself with whatever sounds I had going at the time.
Although it wasn’t exactly silent, it wasn’t artificial noise that was distracting me. It was the birds, cars, planes, cute dogs, and everything else that makes up life. All of the silence that isn’t really silent it’s life, people, busyness, and more.