We spend so much of our time doing this and running there with music and podcasts, directions and instructions, jingles and audiobooks, theme songs and storylines. Our world is pretty loud and I’m as guilty as the next person. I put in my ear buds as soon as I step outside the door. Turn on something when I come home and have a constant barrage of stuff running through my head. The holidays only make it that much more apparent. There’s socializing and classic tunes, conversations of what to get the kids, where to go for the best deals and whose home you’re having dinner. Commercials run back to back from everywhere asking you to buy this or try that.
We’re inundated with sound.But from time to time we just have to stop. Put down the phone, step away from the TV, and power down the laptop. Ask the family for a few minutes and turn it off. Taking some time for silence and sitting, walking or laying in quiet, and just “being” is one of the hardest things to do. Just think about when you try to go to bed, the entire day wants to run a recap in your head as you struggle to find some quiet corner in your sub-consciousness to conk out in. I know it can be hard, but it’s worth the effort.
Take some time to really quiet the world around you and just be. Now I’m not so naïve as to think that while you intend to sit in silence your brain won’t sneak in with the to-do list or the last song you heard on the radio won’t rear it’s head wanting to say Hi, introduce itself and ask you if enough time has passed for you two to meet up (yep, I heart Adele too). But make some time to take a deep breath and exhale the catchy lyrics and never ending schedule for even a few minutes.
Silence, I’ve found, can be scary, we’re so used to the clamor that we aren’t sure what will happen when it’s gone. What will happen you ask?? I can’t answer you for sure but what I can say is that when I have intentionally sought out some quiet I’m able to feel my heart beat, hear myself slow down my breathing, relax my muscles into the lack of filled-in sound, and center myself.
Grab a cup of coffee or tea and settle on your couch, sit in a chair, close your eyes and breathe. You can even head outside and just quiet your mind and get some fresh (albeit possibly cold) air. During this holiday season I encourage you to take some time, even if it’s just 5 minutes, and be quiet in the silence. You may find you’re better able to tackle the wall of stuff you have to get done with some help from that few minutes you spent just sitting on the back porch.
