Silent in a Noisy World
Mike Moore
It is
quite evident that we are living in one terribly noisy world
and it seems to be getting worse every day. Everywhere we go
we are accosted by loud, unwanted sound. When we enter
elevators, malls and restaurants we are engulfed by muzak.
I
recently had lunch at a popular restaurant and found the
background music so loud that it interfered with normal
conversation and the enjoyment of my lunch. When I asked the
waitress if she could turn the music off, or at least down,
she said, "I don't think we can." Surely we as a
people are still in charge of volume controls.
When
you add lawnmowers, snow blowers, leaf blowers, jack
hammers, jet engines, transport trucks, and horns and
buzzers of all types and descriptions, you have a wall of
constant noise and irritation. Even when watching a
television program at a reasonable volume level you are
blown out of your chair when a commercial comes on at the
decibel level of a jet.
We
seem to have created a cultural acceptance of our noisy
world in spite of the fact that it is making us ill
physically and psychologically. We can't seem to live
without background sound. We have friends who turn on the
television the moment they awaken in the morning and leave
it on all day. The house is just too quiet if it isn't on.
Former high school students of mine used to tell me that the
first thing they did on arriving home after school was turn
on their CD player as loudly as would be tolerated by their
parents.
Cornell
University recently conducted a study to determine the
impact of noise on employees in an open area office space
where people are constantly exposed to fax machines,
telephones, office chatter, shredding machines, etc. Test
results revealed that workers in an open area had high
levels of adrenalin in their urine. Adrenalin is released by
the body when under stress. It prepares us for fight or
flight. When these employees were compared to those in self
contained office spaces the results were startling. People
in a quiet, self contained work area did not have the same
high levels of adrenalin in their urine. They were much more
relaxed and less stressed.
A
puzzle, demanding attention and concentration, was given to
both groups of employees. The open area group was found to
be less diligent in the solution of the puzzle becoming
easily frustrated and giving up much earlier than the group
from the quiet office. The study also found that workers
from the quiet office slept better at night, had better
digestion, were much less irritable at home and felt better
at the end of their workday than employees from the open
concept office. Noise does seem to affect focus,
productivity and general physical and psychological well
being. Noise tends to increase stress levels which in turn
can result in increased frustration and anger and strained
interpersonal relationships. We must begin to establish a
friendship with silence.
How
to Make a Friend of Silence
While
we have very little control over noise in the environment at
large, we do have control over our own private environment.
This is where we begin to cultivate a friendship with
silence.
*
Make a conscious commitment to the experience and
appreciation of silence.
* Go
for a walk in nature. Let the silence soothe your spirit.
*
When you are alone in your residence turn off all noise
making appliances. Begin with fifteen minutes of silence and
gradually increase the duration.
*
Learn how to meditate and schedule a ten minute meditation
period once or twice a day. Gradually extend your meditation
time.
*
When driving to work turn off your car radio and drive in
silence.
* Go
camping for a night by yourself. Find a quiet campground
where they don't allow people to blast their music without
consideration for others. I usually go solo camping for one
week each year to be alone and silent in the outdoors.
It
has become something I eagerly look forward to.
*
Drive to a lake at sunset and rent a canoe. Paddle slowly
along the shoreline observing the silent sights and the
gentle sounds of nature as the sun sets and darkness
approaches.
* In
silence listen to your breathing. Get a sense of the silent
rhythm of life.
*
Just before retiring go outside and look up at the night
sky. You will soon sense another universal rhythm so
unfamiliar to many. Let the night sky and the darkness
embrace you and calm you as you prepare for a night's rest.
*
When you read a book, do so in silence. Many of us read to
music or during television commercials. Try silence.
You'll
grow to love it.
Soon
you will begin to cherish the periods of silence you have
built into your day and long for more. You will quickly
discover that you are becoming more relaxed and less tense
even in the midst of our noisy world. You will have made an
invaluable new friend of silence, a friend which can
comfort, heal and soothe your spirit. What a gift you will
have given yourself.
Be
still and know the restorative power of silence.
Mike
Moore is an international speaker and writer on human
potential, motivation and humour. You can check out his
motivational books, tapes, special reports and manuals at
motivationalplus.com. |
