Take Time To Listen

Take Time to Listen

One of the things I’ve been doing lately, especially first thing in the morning, is allowing myself to enjoy the sounds of silence. Silence can be quite noisy if you listen. The house is usually quiet, unless my husband is snoring, which is more often than not, but that sound I consider normal and can actually tune him out at times. Gratefully, this morning he is quiet.

I hear the coffee pot gurgling its last breath as it finishes its morning task automatically at 5:20 am. The scent of French Roast pulls at my droopy eyelids. I turn a bathroom light on and crack the door to filter in just enough to see where I’m going so I don’t stumble in the dark and break my neck. The house is so bitterly cold.



In the living room I can hear conversations coming out of the TV. My husband isn’t one for the awesome sounds of silence. He’s so dependent on noise that he can’t sleep without it, thus moving himself to the living room sofa in the middle of most nights. I turn the sound down on the TV and check to make sure he's covered against the cold.

Gusty winter winds blow outside my window



I get a cup of coffee and return to bed. I prop myself up on a pillow mountain, pull the warm covers up to my chin, and sip in the dark silence of the pre-dawn morning. On the day I'm writing this, a blustery February morning, sleet pelts against my bedroom window warning that the meteorologists were correct in their prediction of another severe winter storm. We are iced in and I will be working at home today. I can hear the gusty wind blowing outside my bedroom window and can picture the snow blowing off of rooftops and across frozen roads, an annual sight that's becoming more usual for us Texans. The high today is in the teens, brrrrr. I don’t want to get out from under the warm covers and go to work, even if it is just to the dining room. As if it could hear my plea, the heater kicks on and the warm smell of heat fills the house.

A neighbor starts his vehicle, poor guy has to drive on those nasty frozen roads. In the distance, some three miles away, a train blares its warning signal that it’s approaching an intersection of the tracks. We hear it more loudly in the winter when the northern wind sends the sounds our way. Birds are actually chirping in this freezing weather. We’ve been setting bird seed out in dishes that will stay on top of the ice. I truly believe they squawk at us until we put out some feed for them.

These are just some of the things I hear. Give yourself a small amount of daily time to just sit, close your eyes, and see what sounds are floating around you. Take time to listen.

I have tinnitus so the ability to hear any sound other than the loud constant humming between my ears is a true joy. Savor the silence sometimes, or as it will, the noises you hear when the television or radio is turned off. Plus, it’s good research for one of the five senses.

Happy Listening,

Wendy