Quiet

In case, dear readers, you haven't noticed - I tend to start writing these entries somewhere around three in the morning; sometimes earlier, sometimes much later. Usually I am listening to music. This is not just true for when I blog, it's true for when I do just about everything except shower, go to class, and.... eat meals with people who don't believe in background music. But tonight, despite the hour being about the same, I'm doing something a little different: I'm sitting back and enjoying the silence. A vast majority of my days are spent with some sort of background noise; whether it be watching a DVD as I fall asleep, listening to music in the car, or just general chatter around me whenever I venture out of my basement hovel and into the outside world.

In many ways, this is what I like about this time of day: with the exception of a random car barreling down my alley or footsteps upstairs, all I hear is the ticking of my clocks. So tonight, I try something new: complete silence. I've moved the clocks out into the garage, as soon as I finish writing this, I'm going to shut down my computer and I'm just going to spend a little extra time enjoying the fact that I can shut down and not have to hear anything for a while. Alas, in SF we don't have crickets or anything like that, but then again, crickets can be overrated if you're really trying to sleep. Granted, the slight ringing in my ears is still around, but it's a more minor afterthought. So, for you out there reading this, if you get the chance, spend a few minutes every week just finding somewhere you can shut off the lights at night and see what you hear. Yes, it's hard not to drift off to sleep, but those few minutes might help save your mental well-being.