Alone in a Quiet Room....What Do You Hear?

Sitting alone in silence, surrounded by four, vanilla walls every slight noise is loud. The trickle of the kitchen faucet hitting the dull ceramic sink never ceases. The dripping is so loud even the hum of the refrigerator running does nothing to silence it. Downstairs, my neighbor, Nastashia, is clicking around in her high-heeled boots and outside my heavy living room door, artfully adorned with four locks I don't have keys for, my other neighbors are loudly discussing their video game.

Outside, I hear the cars driving the streets, coming home from work and the crunch of the ice underneath their tires makes me happy I am sitting in my warm living room. I can hear Peekah hissing at Sasha and envision the two of them in a standoff somewhere near the litter box or the food dish, paws up and ready to swipe at any second. The dog up the road is howling to be let inside on this bitterly cold evening and his misery echoes through the drafty window. I hear myself breathing and the dog stops barking. Cars fly by, going faster than they should, in a hurry to get somewhere and I hear myself think. What’s my schedule tomorrow? Do I work? I have a gift card to Macy’s. What should I buy? I need to get Ryan a birthday present. I’d really like to go on a vacation. Where? Key West? Aspen was nice. But it’s so cold here, I should go somewhere warm and douse myself in sunscreen. Key West it is. But Colorado was by far the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen…I hear myself wonder why I am thinking about vacations when I am broke and then my thoughts turn to bills. Two more paychecks until rent is due, the cable is late...

Sitting alone in a silent room, I hear what I miss throughout the day. Small things that don’t catch my attention because the television is playing a repeat of Friends or music is playing.  Things I don’t notice because I am too busy with my life, too busy coming and going and getting things done to notice the sounds Nastashia’s shoes make or how loud the ice is when it breaks in the night. Sitting alone in silence I hear my mind race and my thoughts turn to how difficult it is to take a minute to be alone without technology and people so I get up, walk across the wide-panel hardwood floors in my socks and grab the remote. I turn the television on and flip the channel to CNN and alone in a room, my mind is finally silenced by the voice of a news anchor dissecting Mitt Romney’s politics.