Sound of Silence

As much as I love to be surrounded by peace, silence can be unsettling. I’ve been getting deeper into my practice of daily meditation, and I’ve been trying to incorporate a level of stillness and quiet throughout my day. It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be.

I started becoming aware of how plugged in I am to, not only my devices, but the desire to be occupied or entertained by commentary at all hours of the day:

• I wake up, scroll through my phone. 

• Meditate for 20mins.

• Make my coffee while listening to a podcast or music.  

• Have instrumental music play in the background while I work.

• Eat lunch and watch an episode of something.

• Back to work, with more instrumental music.

• Make dinner while having a show, or a podcast, on in the background.

• Eat dinner while watching something.

• Work on some creative projects.

• Watch a few more episodes.

• Go to sleep.

There is very little time where I am just present with myself, no distractions. Yesterday, I began making small decisions to disconnect from the noise. I stopped trying to fill every crevice of silence with sound. It felt strange. So many impulses where I wanted to be occupied by something external.

However, I found it oddly comforting just being with me. It was new. It was nice.