Keeping Volume Low

By: Anin on 10:29:00 PM

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Hello peeps! Back then there was this book that attracts my attention in a bookstore. The title of this book is A Simple Life, written by Desi Anwar. Desi Anwar? Yes, that popular news anchor. This book tells us her way of seeing things, with her stories supporting the statements, and also some pictures she took herself.

I like this book because it tells a "perspective" of her, the way she thinks and behave regarding the issues in this life. There are also parts that is highlighted yellow here, i like that i seems good to be a quotation. A good book to read, really. You could also find the Bahasa Indonesia version of this book, no worries. So much parts i like to read over again, and here is one of them. "Keeping Volume Low", from page 194-199. It's a nice one. Happy reading!^^


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We live in  a noisy world. Almost everything around us produces a noise of some sort. And usually not of the pleasant type, but ones that clank, buzz, hum, whirr, bang, screech, scream and other sounds painful to the ear, whether emanating from the mouths of humans or the noises of machines.

Even neutral and not so unpleasant sound can turn into noise when it is played too loud, too often and too near. Music can easily degenerate into aural pollution when the volume is pumped up to high level, as could the sweet sound of the call to prayer when screamed out through powerful loudspeakers by a tone deaf faithful.

Everywhere we find ourselves, whether at home,at the office,on the road, in public places and inside vehicles, noise follows

us like a persisten gadfly. We cannot be rid of it.

After a while, it becomes a background to our lives that we no longer notice, much like an ugly wallpaper that sets our teeth on edge at first, but get used to after as it fades from our conscious perception.

And we think this is the normal way to be. Our television is meant to be loud, our bars, restaurants and cafes are places where we need to shout to make ourselves heard, and high volume music is a must in malls and shops in order to attract customers and give a fun atmosphere.

Quietness and silence is to be avoided at most, as we equate it with boredom, with loneliness and with a lack of activity. For instance, i have yet to walk into a shop or cafe where there is no music playing or no television flickering  in the background.

And yet, there is value in silence or quietude. Often, when one is alone, the impulse is to turn on the television to give one the impression of  still being amongst the living, or tu fulfill the need for noise that one has grown accustomed to. After a day of constant sound, a sudden silence can feel quite strange and unnerving. As if the wallpaper is stripped off and we're confronted with how bare the wall seems.

And yet, when am alone, i try to resist that impulse to switch on the television or the radio. Instead, i savour this moment of quiet to the full, knowing that it will not last. Because silence is a luxury we cannot have when we are with others and when in the deafening world outside.

It is during this moments of silence that we can actually enter the depth of our being and explore the world of our imagination and creativity. As a bare wall is not a sign of nothingness but represents a wealth of endless possibilities, neither does silence signals an emptiness that is undesirable. 

Instead, when we honour the value of quietude, we discover that while noise distracts us from who we are and what we can achieve, hearing no sound takes us to places where our real authentic selves reside. The self that wants to know who it really is, that wants to be expressed in its full potentiality, who desires to unleash its creativity and whose imagination is without bounds.

So, next time you feel the world is heavy on your shoulders and the tedium of life is wearing you down, don't run away by distracting yourself in its noise. Instead, turn down life's volume and connect yourself to the energy and creativity that only silence can bring by giving yourself ten minutes or, where you can be alone in a quiet place, 

Silence costs nothing, requires you  to do nothing, and yet can point you in the direction where true wealth lies.

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