Month completed: January 2009

First came the record player.

Then the radio.

Then the TV.

The Boom Box.

The Sony Walkman.

The MP3 player

Then the iPod.

Who’s know what next!

As the years have progressed, so have the number of things around us that make noise.

Most of them are pleasant, otherwise we wouldn’t have them, but what I have also found pleasant is to be surrounded by nothing but my own thoughts.

Which is why I am really enjoying walking to work at the moment – it gives me 45 minutes in which to consume myself with thoughts and ideas, with the only distraction being the constant sound of traffic, and impatient London commuters barraging along the footpath.

So, this goal, to spend a day in silence, while sounding hard, was actually one I was really looking forward to.

It could only be done while Nat was away, so I chose to do this goal last weekend while she was away in Dublin with a friend.

Achieving this goal meant adhering to the following:

• Not uttering one word
• No TV
• No radio
• No music

Basically, nothing that involved noise.

Of course, noise from the traffic outside, and the birds flapping their wings were still there, but these are hardly controllable.

And by the end of the day, I had made a few interesting discoveries:

• I felt the urge to speak to myself many times
• The allure of having a TV on is very strong
• I like music in the background
• You can still communicate with people without uttering a single word
• You achieve a lot when you spend time in silence

Point 4 was most intriguing – here is what I achieved during my day of silence:

• Wrote half a dozen postcards to send back to Australia
• Did the grocery shopping
• Made a stirfry
• Washed and dried all the dishes
• Bought a doona and sheet set
• Learnt all the features of a new digital camera bought the day before
• Did a load of washing, including some hand washing
• Ironed the shirts for the following work week
• Read 80 pages of a new book I just bought
• Went out and photographed the snow that had just started falling
• Put all the clean clothes away
• Prepared the next day’s lunch
• Put out all the rubbish and recycling

Most of this list seems like mundane chores (which they were) but to get them all achieved meant the following few days were much more relaxed, and I could come home without the need to do them hanging over my head.

Communicating with the staff at Argos, where the doona and sheet set was purchased, was interesting. I found that without saying a single word, I was still able to get my message across, and didn’t feel at any time like I needed to speak to communicate what was required. I had a new appreciation for what it is like to be mute, as well.

Some people may say that to really spend a day with silence, that day must be spent in a secluded forest with no access to anything apart from the trees. I argue that to spend a day in silence while in extremely close proximity to a TV, radio and iPod is many times harder to achieve.

So, if YOU are feeling like everything is becoming too busy in your life, why not spend a day in silence. Or at least, unplug the TV for 24 hours. You will have a very fulfilling day, I guarantee.

Although you will look like this towards the end of the day!