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Full Moons and Safety Glass
Full Moons and Safety Glass
Balancing money, time, self, and family
Member Since: April 14, 2008 Last Signed In: November 15, 2009 Blog Views: 3929 Send To A Friend Sign Guestbook Add as a Friend
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Head Games
About six months ago, I started to notice something.
The world has a lot of background noise. A lot. The sounds of traffic, people talking on the mobile phones, music booming out of the car next to you at a stoplight, barking dogs, crying babies--the list just goes on and on. Keep in mind that I have never been too distracted by ambient sound. One notable exception comes to mind from about eight years ago when Paul and I sat through some pre-marital counseling sessions. The therapist’s cozy one room office was situated just off the park in old Fair Oaks. The park in old Fair Oaks also housed a battalion of ferial chickens and roosters. For ten sessions, Paul and I sat side-by-side on an overstuffed couch and waited for emotional breakthroughs to occur. As a critical moment approached, a fervent ****-A-DOODLE-DOO erupted breaking all of my concentration. All I could think about was KFC for dinner. It was ridiculous. We finished up our ten sessions and never went back. I blame the chickens. With two daughters under five, there is a lot of background noise in my life these days. There is the constant background soundtrack of stupid Scooby Doo that never seems to go away. In addition, my (nearly) five year old has taken to incessantly asking questions. Seriously, she can cram twenty questions into a 45 second time frame. She doesn’t even wait for you to answer. She just jumps right to the next question. My two and a half year old screams and acts like a two and a half year old all of the time. For the record, two and a half year olds are very noisy. They are very noisy while they scream “No!” and “I don’t like you!” and “I want to pick it out!” and “I don’t want milk!” and “Go away!” You get the idea. But it isn’t just the kids. Chatter and noise permeates everywhere. To combat this, I started to do something that I never thought I would do. I now walk around nearly all of the time I am in public wearing my ipod. Podcasts, audio books, and music drown out the background noise. And I love it. When I am outside “away from it all” or at least “away from most of it” I have no problem pulling out the ear buds. I love the sounds of rushing water or birds. I love listening to my kids laugh, play, and sing. All of the background activity, though, has really started to make me nuts. I like the quiet of my own head and thoughts. I like my NPR and Adam Carolla in bite-size podcast pieces. In a weird way, my ipod time feels almost like real alone time. I can shop at Target, wait in line at the grocery store, or walk around Capital Park during lunch time and feel like I carved out a little time for myself. I'll take what I can get these days. 5 comments from 5 users
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posted by
creatress
on Apr 16, 2009 at 07:33 AM
What a briliant blog. I love it. I always see people with earbuds on (man-cub included) and think "They are so in their own little world!" You just confirmed it for me. I don't blame you. If Mama isn't happy... you know how the rest goes. 2 1/2 is really young to be doing 4 word questions like you shared. So look on the bright side, she's an advanced communicator. Maybe you have some future scientists on your hands? Or sleuths (thanks to Scooby.) Speaking of... have you had no luck getting them interested in ANYTHING else? I feel for you. The rooster while in therapy story was hillarious. I don't blame you for not going back. How horrid! posted by
kellimwheeler
on Apr 16, 2009 at 07:59 AM
I remember reading somewhere that it is nearly impossible to find silence these days and how much we need it. So, you made not have found silence, but at least you have control over the noise you're subjected to. Well played. When I've been riding on the American River bike trail trying to escape the cacophony of the city and enjoy nature's symphony, it always irks me that the hum of traffic still manages to add its tune. posted by
AmandaS
on Apr 16, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Creatress...I fear I am never going to be able to rid myself of Scooby Doo. Sometimes I wear the iPod at home so I don't have to listen to it. ARGH. And, Kelli, I agree about the Parkway, but at least I can't hear the Scooby 3 miles from my DVR.
posted by
hmoeckli
on Apr 17, 2009 at 05:49 PM
And that's all you need, right, another advanced communicator for a kid? Keep those earbuds (and possibly wine, just kidding...not really) close by. :)This is an awesome post. I've gotten away from my IPod, but I loved it. It provided a great escape. posted by
wifemotherdaughtersister
on Apr 22, 2009 at 09:12 PM
a few years ago some friends and i were chatting and one of them mentioned that he was working with a guy who had taken a vow of silence ( not talking) for an entire year. i imagine silent guy from time to time and wonder how that worked out for him. you know what are totally great? those big ear muff things that guys using a jackhammer wear. you could be in the middle of an explosion and not hear a thing. something to think about...
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