Has the world gotten louder?

One of the drawcards for a slower lifestyle and I believe why many people are drawn to it, is the perceived quieter, more peaceful vibe gotten from that. After the rush of Christmas and New Year one of the things I’m enjoying most is squirreling myself away in the quiet of our home getting some jobs done.

We went shopping late last year and it was lovely. I noticed though, that as the day went on we got a little more tense, a little more stressed. Quite by accident we ended up in a particularly quiet mall with a food court where we tucked ourselves away in a corner with only natural light and a couple of other souls having lunch. There was no piped music or throbbing disco beats from various stores. No Christmas carols sung at decibel levels that presumed deafness in all the shoppers. We could speak to each other without having to raise our voices, eat quietly, peacefully and could feel our anxiety/stress reducing. We ate, sat quietly talking and left feeling refreshed ready to finish our shopping and head home.

In any given town, city or shopping district there is barely a surface not covered in some form of advertising. All vying for our attention. Cars, buses and all forms of transport braking, honking, music playing. Large electronic screens in shops, walkways and malls, all in competition with each other pumping out news, advertising, music. Store announcements jabbering, peoples mobiles ringing and dinging. Every marketable surface trying to grab our attention and “talk” to us even when there is no sound. By necessity people need to raise their voices to have conversations with each others and be heard over the top of all of that, and so it ends up louder still. I don’t know about anyone else but closing the door behind me at home after work or shopping is peace. Breathe in. Breathe out. Ahhhhh.

I don’t think the world is going to get quieter anytime soon and becoming a hermit is not a good answer. There are some ideas to explore though.

  1. Have a place you can go to to reset and find quiet.

If you’re going to be out and about, explore your town or city to see if there are quiet malls, parks, libraries,rest rooms even, that offer some respite from the noise.

2. Make your own home a haven of calm.

At the end of the day you’ll have somewhere to retreat to for peace. As an added bonus, calm homes usually promote calmer kids and calmer relations in general.

3. If you can, get away on the weekends.

Bushwalking. Parks & Gardens. Beaches. Rural Settings. See if there is somewhere not too far from your home that you can go and relax and spend quiet time in nature.

4. Less shopping Trips.

Minimise your shopping trips. Most of us can do better in this. Plan your grocery shopping rather than popping in mulitiple times a week. Shop online and have it delivered. Don’t mindlessly browse and shop on the weekends to fill your days and keep yourself amused. Have a list. Get in. Get it done. Get out.

5. At work – Hide. Try and find somewhere peaceful or quiet for lunch.

Whenever possible. Do not each lunch at your desk. It’s terrible for your digestion and you should be having a proper break. Hide yourself away. Find somewhere in the office or local that’s quiet. But take a break, no work interruptions and if at all possible, some quiet time for yourself to reset.

6. Stop raising your voice.

Don’t try and compete with the noise, you’re not going to win. Take is elsewhere. We have often paused a conversation till we’ve left a shop or area to avoid basically having to yell at one another. At work find somewhere quieter. Text callers rather than chat if need be – no-one needs to know your business anyway and you can always give feedback to mall management or shops if you’d like to about the decibel level of your experience.

7. Sound cancelling Head phones.

Best investment I ever made. Wear them at work if you’re able. At home. Out and about. Anytime you want to block out noise and pipe something more soothing into your eardrums.

8. Change the time you do things

There are quieter times to shop. Go to the gym or exercise. Run errands. Find out when that time is and make use of it to bring less noise to your days.

We’d love to hear any tips you have implemented for quieter days. Share them with others and help us all to quieter days by commenting below

Till next time friends

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