A Case for Quiet

Today I’d like to make a case for finding a moment of quiet. 

We often open our eyes in the morning and the whole day is already set out in front of us. Almost every moment of our day is allotted to a need, chore, work, errand, meeting, or other obligation. During the day, we find ourselves moving from one task to the next, from laundry to dishes to work to studies to this errand and then the next. It can quickly become overwhelming as the requirements of our day weigh our shoulders down. 

What happens next can happen almost without notice. Without intentionally making time for quiet, we can find a constant drone of background noise slowly creeping its way into the cracks and crevices of our time.

We blast music in the car on the way to dinner or running errands. We turn on a YouTube video or Podcast while we fold the laundry. We have Bluetooth speakers for the shower. Speakers for outside. Noise-canceling headphones for when we’re out on a walk. Netflix playing in the background while we fix dinner. 

We have found so many creative ways to drown out any silence around us. 

Why is that?

I think it comes down to a couple of things. 

Firstly, I think it comes down to the fact that we’ve filled our days so impossibly to the brim that we don’t have a moment to think. Suppose we stop the inertia of the day as it races past us, even momentarily, to admire a beautiful bouquet at the market or consider the songs of the birds chirping outside. In that case, we may feel confronted with thoughts we “don’t have time” to think. 

Knowing this, even unconsciously, can lead us to need a distraction from thoughts that may crop up throughout the day. The never-ending motion can make us feel like a football player trying to drive for just a few more yards while the ball is in play. Head down, shoulders squared, we plow through one task, and then another, and then another. We don’t let our minds wander to think about this or that not-task-oriented thought. 

Secondly, and sometimes related to the first point, I think it can come down to being afraid of what may happen when we have an opportunity to be alone with our thoughts. What if there’s too much quiet and something uncomfortable comes up? It is probably better to drown the thought in loud music before it has a chance to swim to the surface. This feeling can stem from a lot of factors. Avoiding quiet can be a response to healing from something, or it can come from fear over a situation or circumstance. There are many reasons we may feel compelled to avoid our own minds for a little while, and they aren’t always wrong. 

Here’s the case I’d like to make today: 

I’d like to make a case for finding a moment of quiet.

I’d like to make a case for taking some time for silence. 

Just for an evening, don’t turn the TV on. Don’t put on any music. Resist the urge to get sucked into the rabbit hole of phone scrolling. Chop the vegetables for dinner without turning on a YouTube video.

Maybe an entire evening feels like a challenge, or perhaps you have little ones running about the house (not exactly a recipe for solitude). If that is the case, try giving yourself 5 - 10 minutes of quiet. Hide in the bathroom or pantry for just a moment. Pop in some earplugs. Let yourself take a few deep, grounding breaths, and invite the silence. 

The quiet, particularly at first, can be uncomfortable. As we allow ourselves to get to know the quiet better, we may find that something magical happens. 

In silence, we allow our hearts to speak. 

They’re always speaking, but sometimes we can’t hear them over the din of the everyday. Take some time to get to know what the voice of your own heart sounds like again in small pockets of quiet. 

When we become familiar with our hearts in quiet moments, we get to know its voice better. We learn our thoughts better. What is it that your heart wants outside of the demands and obligations of your own life? 

You may be surprised at what you get to know about yourself and others.

Now, I’m not making the case that movies, music, or podcasts are bad. I enjoy turning on an audiobook while I do chores or prepare dinner. There’s a (busy, professional) music studio in my house, so I know what it is to be in a noisy environment. I am saying that we ought to take the time to be conscious of how much noise we allow to fill our days. What are we trying to drown out? When was the last time we took a moment of peace for ourselves? 

When was the last time we quieted ourselves to allow our minds and hearts to speak to us? 

If you’re not sure, take this as a gentle nudge to reacquaint yourself with a small slice of solitude today. I promise that you won’t regret it.