Instead I collected my favourite CDs (which would never get
played in the house since we play all our music off a hard drive). Every
morning or afternoon before I started driving I would choose one to suit my
current mood. Usually it was fairly upbeat and I would sing along. Singing in
my car makes me happy. After a while I found that on my morning commute I
usually wanted something calmer. So mornings I started to listen to classical
or peaceful music (Beck – seasons change got a lot of play).
Recently though I have switched off the music completely on
the morning drive. I was starting to find even the quite music a bit disruptive.
Now about every other morning I drive to work in silence. It is roughly 20
minutes that I try to keep silent and my mind clear. I try not to think about
work and what I need to do that day. No shopping lists, plans for later or
thoughts of meeting friends. Besides for focusing on the traffic (please be
alert when driving!) I like to let my mind wonder and not pay too much
attention on where. I find that I come into work calmer, more awake and
focussed. Now I am considering eliminating music from my morning drive completely.
It is rather soothing.
The only small niggle I have is that people I talk to find
it a bit strange. I don’t have TV (haven’t for about 7 years now), I started to
avoid reading the newspaper and then the radio. Now I try to avoid even noise
as well. For a society that needs constant background chatter I can understand
that it seems a bit odd, which is why I don’t tell everyone. I get asked
sometimes what I think of a new song on the radio and I reply with a vague oh I
haven’t heard it yet. I don’t know the names of many actors and I don’t hear
about the news unless someone tells me. I suppose some people find it a bit
detached but it suits me fine, I also don’t worry about these things. Maybe
other people should try a little silence too every now and then.
No comments:
Post a Comment