Great exploration of the many types of silence! If only there were a YouTube video that could take our minds on the tour that this piece just treated us to.
I struggle desperately to sleep on planes. Yet during taxi before take-off with the engines on bumbling along the tarmac up to the runway, I sleep like baby for 10 mins.
I found that the little Oasis device, a really good pair of eyecovers and protective headphones to push the sound out help enormously. Of course if I could afford first class.....Thanks for the most kind words.
So much to say about all of this! I live so near to the city limits that the biggest noise I hear is the occasional airplane.
This morning I laid awake in bed just after 6am and listened to all the different bird songs through my window. Sometimes it's the crows and magpies that wake the earliest and they sound so ugly but I still lay there in peace listening to them.
PS: if I don't fall asleep to a meditation my next choice is rainfall on YouTube. Best sound in the world to me ❤️
What a lovely essay. It brings to mind a poem written by Oriah Mountain Dreamer called The Invitation. The last lines especially ring true with what you’ve written.
“ I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments”
Most of the time I am very comfortable with my own company. I too love the sound of rain, lake waves lapping on the shore, peeper frogs, and a good thunderstorm.
I reached out to her recently. She had shut down her website and social media and was kind enough to respond and say that she'd pulled way back. She didn't explain, not my business and I didn't ask. I have that book, and love it, as did millions.
Canyon Way Bookstore has been closed for several years. The owners retired. It was fantastic in its heyday. Now we don't have any bookstores in Newport that sell only new books, but the Nye Beach Book House has become a good hangout for me. The owner is very supportive of local authors.
Julia, thank you so much for including me and my Substack in this post. You make so many great points here. Silence truly is what you make of it, terrible or a blessing, and how you feel will vary. I'm two hours away near Newport. Rural Oregon is the best.
Thank you, Julia. We go to the coast most summers, and we always loved the bookstore and the cafe. Very sad for customers, but I'm glad they are enjoying retirement.
You are so welcome, Sue. I love Newport. I was staying up there during the ice storm back in January. Love that lighthouse! I typically am at Cave Creek Cove ( I may have the name wrong) just north of the Walmart and on the beach. Adore it up there. And yes, even with the challenges, rural Oregon is the best. Not for everyone, but for so many.
“That’s why time alone, if we are fortunate enough to have it, is the single finest opportunity to discover what so many of us avoid, run from at full tilt and fill our lives with so much noise to sidestep: time with the soul, with all its painful truths, all its glorious possibilities.”
I also consider time alone, a gift. Silence is golden for me as well. Golden in that I treasure my time to look inward or simply to be in the moment.
What timely confluence with my experience these days, in which I find I crave the early morning hours when I take time to be alone with myself. It feels like the deepest luxury.
Sitting. Overlooking a harbor. Rain on roof. My Labrador on his comfy bed. I in my swivel chair . Last bits of coffee now lukewarm. I embrace the silence and your words.
Such a good read, thank you and much food for contemplation. Thanks too for reminding me of Victor Frankl; what an extraordinary man he was. I have boxes and boxes of unpacked books in my rented house. I so look forward to welcoming them all back once I buy my house! Living with 3 teenagers, I relish the silence when they’re at school but welcome their bustle. It all ebbs and flows. And there are always my dogs to chat to when I need to hear the sound of my own voice!
My dog is still new to me, celebrating three weeks yesterday, and the joy she brings is unbelievable. I love her zoomies as much as I love it when she's down and dreaming.
In fact, I even get the Zoomies more often than I care to admit. But I don't tuck my tail down when I do it, although I'd probably look better if I did.
This was a fantastic piece for me to read today. The house is full of boxes and big rolls of bubble wrap. When the boxes, and their owner, leave, I will be living alone for the first time since 1995. There will be silence, there will be some fear and paranoia, and I need to let the river of life flow and not get stuck in some eddy. I love what you said about staying open and prepared for what life's river has coming downstream for me next. And to not make a bad decision in that moment of fear in an eddy. I have worked hard for this chance to just be myself, by myself, and I can't screw this up now. Thanks again.
You are so welcome, Bonnie. I love my aloneness, and I am aware of the echoes in this home which need filling with beloved company. I make it welcome when I welcome myself into all its corners.
I consider silence pure bliss. I can't think, write, or read without it. When my husband comes home he craves constant noise. It takes a time to get used to it, and I do. When he leaves for the week silence once again rules the house. Great read.
I agree. I am lucky to live in a quiet area, but they're starting to build homes all around me. Soon the noise will cancel out the silence. I'll enjoy while I can.
You know, most of those homes will likely be uninhabited or barely used. That's the reality of "let's get a place out in the boonies" it's not very convenient and requires tolerance and planning, two very unsexy qualities for the uninitiated.
These are summer homes, I'm fairly certain. They are small tract homes going for almost a half a million dollars on tiny lots. The developer is making a fortune and ruined the woods behind me.
A dear friend of mine moved to a wooded spot on the Olympic Peninsula. A year later, the neighbor who owned the land sold the wood, and in mere moments all the forests were gone, along with all the shade, animals and everything with it. Her experience taught me a fine lesson" be able to control your environment. Where I live there is no space to build anything close to me. That's selfish, but for while this neighborhood exists, so do the woods.
Some people see trees, others look and see a cash crop. One cannot to enough research when buying out here. Who owns the land around you, what are the local well logs like, what do the neighbors say, it just can't be done enough. And one positive note is that in about 30 years the replanted trees (GMO super trees no doubt, bummer) will be grown waaaay up and it will give a forested feel again. They grow about 8 feet a year after about the first five. So grow ye tomatoes while ye may. One more note, the trees that were cut down were likely 60 year old super trees that were genetically designed to bear very few cones so they really are not real forests at all. They just look like forests. Without the biodiversity of a natural forest one is really not losing as much as you would think, very sadly. Just another line of research, when were forests near where I want to make my home planted, by whom and for what purpose? There is very very little normal real forest anywhere in the pac northwest now.
So much truth in this, Bonnie. I planted, so far, some eleven trees on my tiny plot. Lots of maples which are drought-resistant, and lots of color and life and places for birds to nest. My contribution.
Depending on which way we go (metropolitan or country) will shape what our ultimate environment will be abd hopefully stay. I'm a person of extremes, so whether we end up in the Alaskan wilderness or the city of Madrid... I'm good to go as long it somewhat stays the same...
Your comment about extremes: I lived in Melbourne, Australia for about a year or so. It could go from mid-nineties to the sixties in the space of an hour, something I discovered the hard way when I biked my way into town from the coastal village of Elsternwick some miles away. By the time I came out of the downtown building, the winds had shifted 180 degrees and I froze my butt off cycling home. Melbourne faces the Antarctic, and it's backedup by the Outback with intense, dry, hot winds. LIving in Oz, as I did for four years, was an object lesson in extremes, which Californians these days- as are many elsewhere- are now learning. What a teacher Nature is.
Okay, those are extremes! That may a bit over-the-top for me, mine is more that I thrive in the arena, and know it when I'm in te right place. But I know how terrible it is to live in the wrong place, it sucks the life right out of me.
Great exploration of the many types of silence! If only there were a YouTube video that could take our minds on the tour that this piece just treated us to.
I struggle desperately to sleep on planes. Yet during taxi before take-off with the engines on bumbling along the tarmac up to the runway, I sleep like baby for 10 mins.
I found that the little Oasis device, a really good pair of eyecovers and protective headphones to push the sound out help enormously. Of course if I could afford first class.....Thanks for the most kind words.
I used that same image (feather) on a track I just released that got picked up on editorial lists on Spotify and Pandora! https://open.spotify.com/album/0Pc44foiQUXiPlMGGEiyun?si=FvkKawfMTQCdPqiFazCX5w
It’s lovely, isn’t it?
I want to be in that picture.
So much to say about all of this! I live so near to the city limits that the biggest noise I hear is the occasional airplane.
This morning I laid awake in bed just after 6am and listened to all the different bird songs through my window. Sometimes it's the crows and magpies that wake the earliest and they sound so ugly but I still lay there in peace listening to them.
PS: if I don't fall asleep to a meditation my next choice is rainfall on YouTube. Best sound in the world to me ❤️
I'm about to turn that on right now!
.. ‘now that was a ‘warcry of a different nature .. well off the beaten path… said ‘lightly .. ‘this is who & what i is ! 🦎🏴☠️
What a lovely essay. It brings to mind a poem written by Oriah Mountain Dreamer called The Invitation. The last lines especially ring true with what you’ve written.
“ I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments”
Most of the time I am very comfortable with my own company. I too love the sound of rain, lake waves lapping on the shore, peeper frogs, and a good thunderstorm.
Thank you for what you wrote. It’s beautiful
I reached out to her recently. She had shut down her website and social media and was kind enough to respond and say that she'd pulled way back. She didn't explain, not my business and I didn't ask. I have that book, and love it, as did millions.
Canyon Way Bookstore has been closed for several years. The owners retired. It was fantastic in its heyday. Now we don't have any bookstores in Newport that sell only new books, but the Nye Beach Book House has become a good hangout for me. The owner is very supportive of local authors.
Thanks for the... quiet... words.
Julia, thank you so much for including me and my Substack in this post. You make so many great points here. Silence truly is what you make of it, terrible or a blessing, and how you feel will vary. I'm two hours away near Newport. Rural Oregon is the best.
I love Newport too. What happened to that amazing independent bookstore by the coast? I believe it was called Canyon Way?
https://www.newportnewstimes.com/arts_and_entertainment/iconic-canyon-way-ends-50-year-run/article_185722fa-f081-11eb-9ec6-a7c1fb6c06a6.html
Thank you, Julia. We go to the coast most summers, and we always loved the bookstore and the cafe. Very sad for customers, but I'm glad they are enjoying retirement.
We all get there, Lee. And so many things change with us when we do.
You are so welcome, Sue. I love Newport. I was staying up there during the ice storm back in January. Love that lighthouse! I typically am at Cave Creek Cove ( I may have the name wrong) just north of the Walmart and on the beach. Adore it up there. And yes, even with the challenges, rural Oregon is the best. Not for everyone, but for so many.
Reads like
Evening rain
What a lovely comment!
“That’s why time alone, if we are fortunate enough to have it, is the single finest opportunity to discover what so many of us avoid, run from at full tilt and fill our lives with so much noise to sidestep: time with the soul, with all its painful truths, all its glorious possibilities.”
I also consider time alone, a gift. Silence is golden for me as well. Golden in that I treasure my time to look inward or simply to be in the moment.
What timely confluence with my experience these days, in which I find I crave the early morning hours when I take time to be alone with myself. It feels like the deepest luxury.
With a crowded world and all the industry, such hours are indeed purest luxury, Jan. I treasure them myself.
Sitting. Overlooking a harbor. Rain on roof. My Labrador on his comfy bed. I in my swivel chair . Last bits of coffee now lukewarm. I embrace the silence and your words.
Many thanks Jennifer. That sounds lovely. I have a quiet office, the sun on the way up and a new puppy snoozing on his bed. What gifts.
Such a good read, thank you and much food for contemplation. Thanks too for reminding me of Victor Frankl; what an extraordinary man he was. I have boxes and boxes of unpacked books in my rented house. I so look forward to welcoming them all back once I buy my house! Living with 3 teenagers, I relish the silence when they’re at school but welcome their bustle. It all ebbs and flows. And there are always my dogs to chat to when I need to hear the sound of my own voice!
My dog is still new to me, celebrating three weeks yesterday, and the joy she brings is unbelievable. I love her zoomies as much as I love it when she's down and dreaming.
Zoomies. ? Is she a Labrador?
In fact, I even get the Zoomies more often than I care to admit. But I don't tuck my tail down when I do it, although I'd probably look better if I did.
No. Mostly Dane, with Border Collie. Zoomies are pretty universal: https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments/riney-canine-health-center/canine-health-information/what-are-zoomies
Mine is particularly happy after being fed.
Ah. Survey says ! Border collie energy ! My lab is almost 11 years young and still zooms. Slowly 😂Alvin 🌟
slower zooms sound very familiar Jennifer!
This was a fantastic piece for me to read today. The house is full of boxes and big rolls of bubble wrap. When the boxes, and their owner, leave, I will be living alone for the first time since 1995. There will be silence, there will be some fear and paranoia, and I need to let the river of life flow and not get stuck in some eddy. I love what you said about staying open and prepared for what life's river has coming downstream for me next. And to not make a bad decision in that moment of fear in an eddy. I have worked hard for this chance to just be myself, by myself, and I can't screw this up now. Thanks again.
You are so welcome, Bonnie. I love my aloneness, and I am aware of the echoes in this home which need filling with beloved company. I make it welcome when I welcome myself into all its corners.
Oh, that is a lovely thing to think about. Very grateful!
I consider silence pure bliss. I can't think, write, or read without it. When my husband comes home he craves constant noise. It takes a time to get used to it, and I do. When he leaves for the week silence once again rules the house. Great read.
Thank you. We all live with it in such different ways, Patti.
It's such a privilege to have some silence. It's so very rare.
I agree. I am lucky to live in a quiet area, but they're starting to build homes all around me. Soon the noise will cancel out the silence. I'll enjoy while I can.
When I get up super early to take out my pup, the woods are dead silent .Gawd I am lucky.
Yes you are!
You know, most of those homes will likely be uninhabited or barely used. That's the reality of "let's get a place out in the boonies" it's not very convenient and requires tolerance and planning, two very unsexy qualities for the uninitiated.
These are summer homes, I'm fairly certain. They are small tract homes going for almost a half a million dollars on tiny lots. The developer is making a fortune and ruined the woods behind me.
That’s a very sad story. We so badly need our woods for a million reasons.
I agree. And what they're doing to the timber here in our state is a mortal sin.
A dear friend of mine moved to a wooded spot on the Olympic Peninsula. A year later, the neighbor who owned the land sold the wood, and in mere moments all the forests were gone, along with all the shade, animals and everything with it. Her experience taught me a fine lesson" be able to control your environment. Where I live there is no space to build anything close to me. That's selfish, but for while this neighborhood exists, so do the woods.
Some people see trees, others look and see a cash crop. One cannot to enough research when buying out here. Who owns the land around you, what are the local well logs like, what do the neighbors say, it just can't be done enough. And one positive note is that in about 30 years the replanted trees (GMO super trees no doubt, bummer) will be grown waaaay up and it will give a forested feel again. They grow about 8 feet a year after about the first five. So grow ye tomatoes while ye may. One more note, the trees that were cut down were likely 60 year old super trees that were genetically designed to bear very few cones so they really are not real forests at all. They just look like forests. Without the biodiversity of a natural forest one is really not losing as much as you would think, very sadly. Just another line of research, when were forests near where I want to make my home planted, by whom and for what purpose? There is very very little normal real forest anywhere in the pac northwest now.
So much truth in this, Bonnie. I planted, so far, some eleven trees on my tiny plot. Lots of maples which are drought-resistant, and lots of color and life and places for birds to nest. My contribution.
Depending on which way we go (metropolitan or country) will shape what our ultimate environment will be abd hopefully stay. I'm a person of extremes, so whether we end up in the Alaskan wilderness or the city of Madrid... I'm good to go as long it somewhat stays the same...
Your comment about extremes: I lived in Melbourne, Australia for about a year or so. It could go from mid-nineties to the sixties in the space of an hour, something I discovered the hard way when I biked my way into town from the coastal village of Elsternwick some miles away. By the time I came out of the downtown building, the winds had shifted 180 degrees and I froze my butt off cycling home. Melbourne faces the Antarctic, and it's backedup by the Outback with intense, dry, hot winds. LIving in Oz, as I did for four years, was an object lesson in extremes, which Californians these days- as are many elsewhere- are now learning. What a teacher Nature is.
Okay, those are extremes! That may a bit over-the-top for me, mine is more that I thrive in the arena, and know it when I'm in te right place. But I know how terrible it is to live in the wrong place, it sucks the life right out of me.
I agree. I don't get city dwelling, but I have privileges many do not. Believe me, I am aware of it.