These days, there is an indissoluble fact: we are exposed to a piercing and violating volume of noise. Noise, these days, is like a paragraph with CAP and bold letters. Most people (I do) might experience ringing in the ears when they finally find themselves in absolute silence.

This week, I will share the importance of silence for the creative process through my experience. I will also share some of my silence practices. And a secret. So, keep reading.

A Personal Sore

Reels, Shorts, and TikTok videos are like a slot machine. This image came to me because I once went to a Hard Rock casino, and the constant cling-cling of the slot machine made my ears cry after a short time —I always wonder if that is where the endless scroll came from. Another pull on the handle will be my lucky one. Needless to say, I didn’t stay long in the casino. Back to short videos, has anybody noticed that every reel or short has a different pitch that changes volume every three seconds? That to me is pain.

Noise Equals Opaque in my Life

When I’m exposed to constantly changing music, voices, or traffic for long periods of time, I feel apprehensive. My senses sharpen. It’s like I’ve been attacked and I have to run or attack back. When I’m no longer exposed to noise, my ears ring, and I feel alert—imagine a soldier who just survived a bombing and he is getting airlifted in a helicopter, and half of his body is still hanging off holding a rifle. No wonder we encounter more people on edge or short-fused these days.

In the mind of a creative person, noise equals distortion. The ecstatic in between radio stations in the old cars, young people might not understand this analogy (shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.) As a consequence, noise in the mind of an artist means darkness, opacity, and muteness.

The Opposite of Opaque

By contrast, when I experience absolute silence, I begin to experience the ideas inside of my head: vivid imagery, colors, words that turn into poetry, and ideas that are not influenced by anyone other than lived experiences and art within.

Solutions

Since it’s so hard to run away from noise, I had to find solutions, like noise-cancelling earplugs and headphones (there are some contradictions about the use of noise-cancelling headphones; please research). Although these devices don’t block a hundred percent of the noise, they offer great relief. Also, I listen to instrumental music. Harmony brings calmness and relaxation to my mind; it also helps with concentration and focus. Finally, now and then, I get in an isolation tank for an hour. This helps calm down my Vagus nerve, and I go home renewed.

Life of Beautiful Colors

After the first winter in North Carolina, back in 2015, I began to paint with acrylics. We had been at least two weeks without seeing the sun and experiencing humid cold that made it painful to go outside. In the silence of that winter, a voice in my head said, “Life is too short to live without colors.” As I voiced this to a fellow artist, she added “and beauty.” Following my inner voice, I painted and painted, and painted, until the winter blues went away. I never stopped after that.

Silence brings me whispers of art.

Silence helps me appreciate.

Silence is a bow to nature.

Silence comforts and connects us

with our inner exalted self.

Silence is the voice of reflection.

Silence is king

for a thinker, a philosopher, and a planner.

Noise, by default,

is the opposite of all that.

Au Revoir!

I hope you might find a quiet place in your life to enjoy yourself; to have a date with a book perhaps; to watch the sunset, to cry something that is blocking you from being happy. I truly wish that for you in the name of all the perfect things we are. Thank you.

‘Till we meet again.

Anechy