The first thing I do every morning after getting up on these warm days, is to fling wide the windows. I live in a city, so in normal times doing that means an increase in noise.
Then came the start of lockdown, and, at the beginning, the lack of noise was so noticeable. This morning It seems so very loud and busy out there again, and although I actually like city living, I craved the time, a few weeks ago, when suddenly birdsong was the prevalent backdrop to my life.
Then I remembered a quotation from Jiddu Krishnamurti about paying better attention to noise.
"Is it not important to find out how to listen not only to what is being said but to everything - to the noise in the streets, to the chatter of birds, to the noise of the tramcar, to the restless sea, to the voice of your husband, to your wife, to your friends, to the cry of a baby?"
When you take the time to do that, it's not all one big noise. It's interesting to unpick the separate noises that are going on around about you. It's a kind of meditation to separate them up and really listen to life's heartbeat.
I think it's worth doing once in a while, even if you live in a quiet location, because amazingly, even silence has its noises too!
Take care and please have a happy Tuesday! 🙏
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I live near the city centre in Cardiff and before lockdown hit it would be busy between 7.30 and 9 in the morning and noisy and then in the evenings and it's starting to come back again.
This morning I went out for an early walk and popped into the chemist to get my prescription and this morning I was delighted when they had the whole order in one go as the last couple of times I have had to have gone back to pick the remainder up a couple of days later so yes this morning I was delighted by something as trivial as that.
I think that the lesson in all this is never take anything for granted as it might just get taken away from you without warning.
Hi lovely. I love this quote. It is important to unpick and speedster noises especially someone like myself I’m very sensitive to noise and get easily traumatised by Loud repetitive noise ( eg fireworks, road drilling,sirens, kids screaming in the playground-) it started getting noticeable around five years ago after my father died) That I get anxiety when I hear these particular loud sustained noises, people I told find it amusing possibly because there’s no logical explanation. I thought perhaps it’s the fibromyalgia but I’ve not read any symptoms like that. The house can trigger migraines too. So the lockdown for me in that respect Only has been a blessing- The quiet mornings and gentle birdsong has calmed and relaxed my mind. Eventually the rat race will commence but for now I’m enjoying the peace.
Often something like stress and grief can set off noise sensitivity and you know cognitively its irrational but you can't help how you feel.
Sometimes there's no logical explanation why these things happen but I think that its how excessive stress and grief manifests as these noises turn into a target for life's frustrations if that makes any sense.
When I was coming back from my walk this morning it was about 10am and there was traffic going in the direction on the city centre but at 9 when I set off it was quite quiet and peaceful and me being delighted over getting my whole prescription in one go today unlike recently where I have had to have returned for the rest another day.
I think this has made me realise its important to be thankful for the small mercies of life.
To hear the sound of a plane the other day, after not hearing on for a while, surprised me. I didn't realize just how noisy they are. It was because generally everything else is quieter around. 😊🌼
We live in the suburbs, but close to an airport, the MI and railway lines, so it's usually noisy. Then all the noise disappeared - for a while, except for planes bringing freight. Now the M1 is as busy as ever and the occasional train can be heard too. Birdsong has been swallowed up, along with the humming of bees.
The hardest thing to get used to living in our apartments is the silence! Silence can be deafening ☺️
Hi Hidden , I've never thought of noise like that,what an excellent way to look study noise.
I'm hearing a lot of birds at the moment and one bird which amuses me is the Pigeon. We get a lot of Pigeons and I admit I clap my hands at them as they are shocking at scaring the little birds and the little ones fly away. The reason they amuse me is the way that the Male courts the female, the way he makes the courting noise and then dips his head up and down.
One thing I will say though is I preferred the quieter roads when cycling, much more pleasurable rides.
I'm out in the garden enjoying the last of the real heat for a while.
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Quotation for Tuesday 30th June 2020