Saturday, January 14, 2017

From Noise to Quiet

A few months ago, in church, my pastor preached a sermon entitled "From Noise to Quiet".  The notion made me smile - quiet?  What's that?  As any teacher knows, especially those of us who teach music, that is a nearly non-existent thing in our work!  And, if you are anything like me, those after school hours are also filled with activity - whether it is with our families, friends, or even fun activities for ourselves, our lives tend to move at such a fast pace that time and space for reflection is nonexistent.  I think of quiet not only as the absence of sound - it also encompasses taking a break from the "noise" of life.

Making room for quiet is hard for me - it's a discipline.  It's not something I'm that comfortable with.  It is hard to put aside my to-do list, turn off my electronics, slow my brain down from it's million-miles-an-hour-pace and just stop.  After about ten minutes, I get antsy and want to do something.  And yet, the more I fill my time up, the more I find myself needing that "decompression" time (whether I acknowledge it or not).  When I don't get it, I am not at my best - it's as simple as that.

Here are some ways I've built quiet into my life:

  • Early morning quiet time: I get up crazy early in the morning (around 4am on a normal school day - yes, I'm a morning person) to just spend some time preparing for the day.  I journal about my thoughts and anything that happened in the previous 24 hours.  Being a person of faith, this time also includes reading my Bible and praying.  This helps me start each day as a new day, not hanging onto anything that happened in the past.
  • Exercise: Part of the reason I get up so early is that I swim or go for a walk every (work) morning.  I love this time - not only is it good for my physical health, but my mental health as well.  While I am pushing my body, my mind is left free to wander and further process my thoughts or dream about the future.  Many of my best ideas come to me when I am exercising!
  • Sleeping in: I try to give myself at least one morning every week (usually Saturday) to sleep in as late as I want!  Since I normally wake up so early, I don't actually sleep in very late - but I stay in bed, relax, and just rest.  Giving myself permission to not get up right away is a great way to find time for quiet in my life.
  • Riding the bus: As funny as this sounds, I have really enjoyed riding public transportation as a way to slow my life down and create space for quiet.  It is a time where I am not hooked up to wi-fi, so there is not a lot of feeling guilty about what I'm not accomplishing on my checklist.  Sometimes I make conversation with random people, sometimes I have to wait at the bus stop for awhile, and sometimes I have to walk a bit to get where I am going.  All of these activities remind me to slow down and be present in the moment.
Finding quiet in my life is a continual struggle, and I don't think that will ever change, but I am committed to finding small pockets of it wherever I go!

How do you make space for quiet into your life?

8 comments:

  1. Nice eye for topic, Aubrey. We have in common bus and exercise time as two sources of quiet. Me reading works well, too. In case you couldn't tell, I delivered this whole comment sotto voce :)

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    1. Yeah RTD! Reading can be hit or miss for me - I enjoy it, but it is filling my head with new ideas, which doesn't always give me time to synthesize/process old ones. What do you like to read?
      (I appreciate the sotto voce!)

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  2. Like Brian, reading is my quiet time. If I start reading blogs then I can accomplish 2 goals - reading more blogs and getting more quiet time. Thank you for the inspiration Aubrey!

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    1. I've learned so much from reading blogs! It's definitely a great use of time - good luck finding quiet for yourself!

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  3. This is such an important topic. Thanks for sharing ways you make space for quiet in your life. This is definitely something I need to be more intentional about this year.

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    1. Being intentional about it - that's the trick! Accountability helps, too :-)!

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  4. Aubrey, as weird as it seems, I felt myself relaxing as I read this post. I'm a morning person like you. Thank you for reminding us to slow down.

    Psalm 46:10 . . . Be still and know that I am God.

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    1. So glad to have that affect on you! And I love that verse, including the second half that reminds me of a bigger purpose in life :-).

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