We live in a world overwhelmed by noise. Cars honking, music blaring and screens flashing. Considering the volume of daily distraction we endure, it’s nothing short of a miracle that we still remember to breathe.
If you haven’t noticed, this is not how we were meant to live. While all of this noise is of our own creation, it does not belong with us. Beyond the occasional roar of thunder, humans lived most of their 300,000 years in relative quiet. With no AirPods to fog our brains, we listened to birds, paid attention to the wind and stood still at the sight of the sunrise.
Our imaginations, the very ones that conceived cars and music and screens, once wandered as the clouds still do. While those inventions are remarkable in their own right, they have been combined in an always-on loop that numbs the mind and stuns the senses. Music morphed into endless playlists, cars turned into traffic and screens transformed into addictive platforms. These inventions have evolved into distracting forces that demand our attention and deafen our peace.
If you have been paying attention (which I recognize is harder now than ever before), you may have realized that all of this noise is unnatural. Artificial and constant, the noise keeps us from thinking deeply about the lives we lead and the world we share. As Socrates once said, “[a]n unexamined life is not worth living.” To truly understand ourselves, pursue meaningful lives and find happiness, this noise just won’t do.
So students, let me ask you: Are you happy? Really, truly happy? Are you satisfied with the views, likes and comments your posts receive?
If you aren’t happy, what would make you happy? Using ChatGPT to prove to the college you want to attend that you are qualified? Watching TikToks that rank which activities raise your dopamine levels the most? Doomscrolling on Netflix until you finally find that one piece of content that will quench your thirst for meaning in a world full of noise?
Should you find yourself disappointed by this menu of options, I invite you to consider something different. Something so delicious in its simplicity, that it might just offer more than all the noise in the world combined.
Why not take a bite out of silence?
Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher, wrote, “[t]he most silent hour has the greatest sound.” Silence, as you will find, is not empty. Rather, it is full, and it holds within it clarity, peace and profound understanding. Silence allows you to listen to that voice you have come to know as your own. Silence urges you to speak directly with that voice which connects us all. You will soon find that whole conversations happen without ever saying a word. It is in silence that the answers we seek often reveal themselves.
I recognize that silence can be scary. We have been taught that to stop moving and consuming, is to fall behind. The moment you try to sit with your silence, your mind will erupt. As you disconnect from the world around you, the noise will come rushing in. A cacophony of anxiety, stress, pressure, worry, envy and self-doubt. You will be bombarded by the weight of the world and the fear of missing out. Panic sets in as you realize you are nothing without the noise. Who knew silence could be so loud?
The thing is, those concerns don’t come from the silence itself. No, they come from the noise. They are the result of constant stimulation, withdrawal from our condition to crave. As you lay your head to sleep, you may find yourself plagued by this residual noise. You can’t sleep for fear that you might miss the next distraction, the next form of validation, the next bit of content. The headlines and notifications scream for your attention but leave you empty in the end. If you listen closely enough, you might just find that silence is calling you to sit down and read. To go for a walk. To call your grandparents.
Silence, though, will not promise instant gratification. It won’t give you likes or followers. It won’t buy you the latest shoes or newest phone. It won’t offer the thrill that comes from competition. It will not give you what you have learned to seek. Instead, silence offers a retreat from the relentless cycle of want, greed and comparison. It offers you space. A clean slate from which to grow virtue, clarity and purpose.
Maybe if you turned toward silence and stepped away from the noise, you would find that the answers you have been searching for, have always been there. Perhaps that little voice inside – the one you call your own – has just been waiting for you to listen.