I’ve been in New York City for just about six weeks now. Although I was born in Manhattan, I grew up at the base of the Catskill Mountains. With the exception of this summer, I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California. In fact, I’ve lived most of my life in the suburbs or in the country.
It’s no wonder then that the thing that bothers me the most about living in the city is the noise. I can’t wait to get home to the relative silence of the mountains. I know I don’t live in a place without sound. The birds constantly sing; the squirrels never stop chattering. I can hear a car or truck now and then on the road below my house. And sometimes, if I’m lucky, I hear a hawk, horned owl or a coyote. However, these sounds are pleasing to the ear. The city sounds — sirens, horns, screeching tires, jackhammers, people talking and yelling, homeless people sorting through trash, boom boxes blaring music, subway trains, buses and trucks — are not pleasing to the ear.
I wish I could be like the boy in the movie August Rush, who heard music in everything. then I could live in the city and hear a symphony all the time, and that would be pleasing to the ear. Instead, I hear a caucophony of sounds that doesn’t bother me most of the time — well, the sirens do hurt the ears — but which seem to be wearing on me little by little. I can’t explain how it wears on me, but I can sense a growing need for silence.
I’ve tried entering one of the beautiful churches around the city. They tend to be locked during the day. On the weekends they are filled with people.
I wonder if the sound pollution explains why so many people listen to their Ipods as they walk around the city. It’s a way to protect themselves from the noise intrusion. I haven’t tried that; maybe I should.
In any case, I’m looking forward to the sound of silence…or something close to silence…when I get home. Maybe this experience in New York City will push me to meditate more often, to go inward and really seek silence.
I encourage you to think about the amount of noise in your day and how you can find an oasis of silence in that noise. I’m sure that, like me, you’ll find it helps you stay balanced, focused, and more in touch with your essence — your soul — and with Source. It’s hard to hear God, that Still Small Voice, when theirs so much noise.
Oh, how true….. the city noise is very different from the country noise.It was the CONSTANT city noise that became irritating as well as stressful for me and in the suburbs a cool day without the a/c units running is music to my ears.
I enjoyed reading your articles.
I lived in New York City for 10 years but only after I left, then came back for a visit, I realized how irritating the sound pollution can be. But even living in the suburbs, we’re not escaping it completely – I often use earplugs around the house, especially toward the evening.