The sound of silence
An interesting thing happened to me in December. After being immersed in this never sleeping, always plugged in American society, I began to wonder if it does us any good.
I came to the realization that maybe all this stuff designed to entertain — the internet, television, movies and music — only serves in the end to distract us.
So I unplugged. I resolved not to watch any TV, listen to music (a difficult task for someone with about 5,000 songs on his iPod), or surf the Internet except to check my e-mail.
I’m not going to lie.
The silence, at first, was deafening. When I found myself home alone with nothing but a book and my thoughts, I wondered how I could possibly keep this up for an entire month.
Yet, somehow I did. And I’m in no hurry to go back to how it was. You see, the silence forced me to confront myself and all my flaws. I couldn’t hide any more from the devastating thoughts that refused to stop creeping up on me.
I couldn’t fall into my music when I needed to talk about something but had no idea where to begin. I was faced with myself and no longer had anything to distract me from the stranger in the mirror.
It scared the ever-loving crap out of me. But I’m better for it because I have a better knowledge of who I am, complete with all my flaws, shortcomings and imperfections.
I’m more able to talk openly with my fiancée about difficult things we need to discuss. And I finally feel some measure of peace with who I am, even if I may not like that person sometimes.
I wonder now if we don’t use all these entertaining things to disconnect us from who and what we are.
Maybe we wind up using the distractions to shield ourselves from the ugliness dwelling inside each and every one of us.
Maybe the reason prolonged silence makes us so uncomfortable is because there’s nothing to hide us from our reflections. And maybe that scares us.
I think it’s time we unplug for our benefit and the benefit of those around us.
I’m not necessarily recommending going to the extreme I went, but if the mood strikes you I won’t discourage you either.
Instead of zoning out in front of the TV after class or work, hang out with friends. Turn off the music every once in a while and talk to the person sitting next to you in the car.
If you want to listen to music at home, put it in the forefront. Shut off all the lights, crank up the speakers and enjoy every single note.
Take time to write down your thoughts with a pen and paper instead of a keyboard and computer.
Go outside and make a snowman (or snowperson if you want to be politically correct) or a snow angel. Do something.
But don’t allow the distractions to distract you from yourself or those around you. Unplug. Enjoy the silence.
Jakob is a senior studying mass communication.
Columnists' opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of The Spectrum