Dear Family and Friends,
I have a slight obsession with earphones. I don’t dislike regular ambient noise in the world, but I prefer music and podcast over listening to wind, cars, regular people conversations that I’m not part of, and boring silence. Regular, normal life noises are just… basic.
Earlier this year I decided to invest in noise-canceling earphones for long (and short) flights. I’ve been using the noise cancelling earphones for a few months now and I’ve been pretty impressed with the sound quality of the music. And one day, to my great surprise, I found out that even if you just turn on the earphones, without turning on the music, the earphones still cancel noise. MIND BLOWN!!! It is the closest thing to my dream invention of putting the entire world on mute. I can mute the world, or, I can mute the world and add music. I didn’t think I could get any happier…
And then, I found out that another pair of earphones I had for over 2 years also has a noise cancelling feature. It never dawned on me why the earphones had a little on-off button when it worked perfectly fine without me touching it. Now I can mute the entire library and add music on top of the muted commotions of library patrons.
This month I’m reclaiming the ability to mute the noise of the world, the nasty people, negative thoughts, and whatever else that needs to be put on mute.
I don’t think people realize how much stimulation they get in a single day. How many co-workers, classmates, family members, children, club members, random strangers do you interact with in a given day? How many emails do you respond to? How much news or celebrity gossip are you inundated with? Magazines? Movies? Music? Commercials? Advertisements?The next youtube video? We are consciously and unconsciously stimulated by external things, people, events, ideas, and events. We are constantly checking our phones and looking for something on the internet. The next youtube video? And when we aren’t, we are left with the thoughts of what do we have to do next? What was left undone? What should I busy myself with next?
My pastor mentioned earlier this year that some people chose to take a vow of silence instead of, or addition to, the typical fast that many Christians participate in at the beginning of the year. For some, the vow of silence is to curb any words from flowing from you mouth. For others, taking a vow of silence is stopping the noise from entering your space. This looks like shutting off all t.v., social media, music, emails, electronics, or any or all distractions. A vow of silence also externally resembles the previous two examples with an emphasis to actively and constantly meditate to quiet the distracting thoughts, behaviors and people.
Noise cancelling earphones don’t change what is out in the world, it just mutes it all to a more comfortable level. It’s the difference between scrolling on social media for 2-3 hours/ day versus just checking it once a day/ week/ month/ lifetime or never again. It could look like finding someone who uplifts you when you are feeling isolated and helps you move to a different frame of reference versus letting the feelings of sorrow/ despair/ hopelessness engulf your spirit. It could be learning to be comfortable by yourself versus moving to the expectations of other people.
As much as I love noise cancelling earphones, I know they have an appropriate time or place. Sometimes people know when something is wrong or bad but they do it anyways. My confession: I know I wear noise cancelling earphones more often than I should, like walking by myself or when I’m using public transportation. Even when I’m not actively listening to music I still move through this world, like Mr. Magoo, not paying attention because I’ve been conditioned to do it by my habit of always getting lost in my thoughts. But I have never, and I repeat never, worn earphones to class, or during a medical appointment (as the nurse practitioner or the patient) or any of all the other places it would be socially unacceptable to wear them to.
There is a time and a place to put life on mute. It is of my humble opinion that we shouldn’t cancel out the noise of the world all of the time. It is of critical importance to be aware of the pain and suffering in the world (which there is plenty) that we are immune to as well as indulge in the joys and delights of the world. To be engaged with all of that is to be human. We should find some balance of actively combating systems of oppression while taking care of our spirits and communities as we are subjected to the same forces.
To be engage with things that spark emotion, whatever that emotion, is healthy and evidence of the vitality of our spirit and the possibility for things to get better.
It is not the same as being engrossed in the things that numb emotions and feelings (you know what you do)- the things we should use noise cancelling earphones for.
Noise cancelling earphones are there for you to mute things, momentarily, and to put things into perspective. Noise cancelling earphones are respite from the structural, financial, obligatory things that you can’t remove or remove yourself from but can actively take a hiatus from.
So, go look at your earphones and check to see if they have an on/off button. You might be delightfully surprised.
Fear Was Last Season 