All We Got is Noise!

All We Got is Noise!

©Allen Merritt (2016)

I don't always like being in crowds, but I love people watching. I observe their mannerisms and activity(ies). I notice their appearance and listen to their speech. And, I see and learn a lot of interesting behavior. 

A good place to people watch is anywhere in a big city such as a mall, a casino or restaurant. Then there is the park or many a bustling sidewalk. Sitting in traffic is a setting for noise. How about airports! Think about New York's Times Square! Obviously, these are all places generating noise, which can prove annoying and/or distracting from time to time depending on how one feels or what one is attempting to do in such settings. 

Moreover, they all have something in common in that they are where people wander or gather and chit chat. If you sit in the midst of it all you can hear the rumble and the roar. No doubt, when you step into a quiet zone you invariably cannot help but notice the difference and sometimes that silence can be heard. Remember the idea of how silence can be deafening? But in other situations when you’re far away from others the silence can be just as overpowering as the noise in a large metropolis. How do people live with noise? For me, it becomes a balancing act. I am sensitive to too much noise both internal and external. Having lived in Manhattan for a while, I completely understand this thing called 'noise'. 

Sometimes it is easy to get lost in a large sea of people and lose yourself for a while. Unless you're doing something bizarre most people won't even notice you're there. It feels like you're in your own world. Then at other times I notice how I get distracted by it all and cannot seem to focus...on anything. It's an interesting dichotomy. When does all this hub-bub become meaningful and when does it crossover into noise. How does one get out of the rat race long enough to get out of their head? 

For the better part of the last year I had an upstairs neighbor who I found made too much noise at all hours of the night when most of us are trying to rest. This individual would scream at the top of his voice, so much so that I could be woke up by it. On top of that, they would play video games on loud speakers at full volume making me wonder how they could stand that much noise up close. For me, it seemed like bombs going off and World War 3 was erupting above my head. 

In our social and eco-political climate, there is a lot of hub-bub and nonsense going on. The newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations are filled with noise. Too much of it! It seems to me noise lives in both the positive and negative sides of perspective. 

Sometimes what we call noise or what others refer to as noise may not be noise at all. It depends on the situation and circumstances. In my life I have found that people have directly made it clear to me that just having my own thoughts, opinions and voice don’t count, cannot be taken seriously and are not wanted because all they are is noise. Is it really?

A balance of noise is good. For example, my friend who has Alzheimer’s needs to have a little noise in the background to help stimulate the mind and keep him engaged a little when conversation can only go so far.

My friend who works from home as an artist often keeps the television turned on in the background for noise because he works alone and has no other company to engage with while he works.

People gather together to let their voices be heard may not always be about noise.

Neighbors constantly turning up their video games and music and blasting us all away may be considered noise.

Traffic, horns and sirens and people shouting obscenities may be referred to as noise.

Is there a time and a place for certain aspects of our voice? Again, when does it cross the line and officially become ‘noise?’ Ponder the following for a minute and you just might get an idea of where this is going. 

Noise.

Noisy. 

Loud.

Too loud.

Versus:

Peace.

Peace and quiet.

Silence
Too silent.

The country recording artist Kenny Chesney speaks to this topic in a song called Noise.

Every day is a car alarm

That I don’t know how to disarm

Where is the silence

That simple silence

Every day is a time bomb

Ticking louder till it goes off

Where is the silence

Where is it hiding

Cause everything is noise

Everything is screaming out

Everything has come alive, oh

But I’m getting lost in the sound

I need to hear your voice

Reminding me that at the end of the day

No matter what goes down I’ll be okay

Even through the noise

For me, I love peace and quiet, but sometimes I want to hear the music and feel the beat and rhythm of life. I think it is only natural for human beings to gravitate toward activity and then find moments to revert away into their preferred quiet space. It becomes about respecting space and boundaries.

Filtering out the noise and paying attention to audible meaningfulness in consideration of self and others just might make a difference in how we feel about ourselves and others. And this is something to reflect on this week as we continue down this path toward daily positivity.

Take note when you experience meaningfulness. Make mental note of what when you run into what you consider noise. What happens? What can you do to balance the two?

Yeah, we scream

Yeah, we shout

‘til we don’t have a voice.

In the streets

In the crowds

It ain’t nothing but noise

Tune it out. Turn it down. Turn it off. Turn it on OR let it be. You decide. 

To inspire your own thoughts about this topic, here is the link to Kenny Chesney's music video .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-VAXRC_hxk

Go out there and enjoy a week of living life on a positive note.

Cheers!