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Do you hear what I hear?

The sounds of the season have changed. As Wendy suggests in this week's 'Everything King', there is rarely a silent night
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Do you hear what I hear?

The sounds of the season have certainly changed.

Didn’t it used to be church bells, carols, the Salvation Army kettle ringer and cash registers?

That’s all still there, of course, along with about a million other things.

I was on a bit of a road trip with some friends recently and was struck by all the various bells and whistles I was being overwhelmed by.

With three of us in the car, there were three cellphones. Some vibrated, some rang (each with a different ringtone to identify which friend was calling). The in-vehicle dashboard phone talks.

“You have... nine new messages. You have... four text messages. Would you like to read them? Reply to them?”

Each phone has a different sound… a knock-knock might mean a text, then a bell means a call, a ping means email, or visa versa.

Then you have the radio or CD on for music on the drive.

The GPS voice pipes up every so often to recalculate the route.

Horns are honking.

Add to that the constant chatter and giggling and its nearly impossible for the backseat person (me) to get any sleep at all.

Throw in the signal light sounds or the back-up beeping or the hum of the windshield wipers and it's enough to make you loopy.

It caused me to blurt out: “There’s too much commotion in my ears!”

There is such a thing as noise pollution. Wikipedia describes it this way: “Noise pollution or noise disturbance is the disturbing or excessive noise that may harm the activity or balance of human or animal life.

I am not against sound.

After 40 years in radio, trust me when I say we were trained to think “dead air” was a disaster. Anything was better than silence.

I’m also one of those people who prefers to have music on most all the time or the TV on in the background.

I like a fan whirring at night to sleep better.

It just struck me when all of the sounds were happening at once that all these noises can’t be good for our well-being.

It's hard to think or focus and we lose our train of thought.

I saw this amusing gadget the other day. It was a small, plastic jail cell with an actual lock and key. It was to force people to put their phones inside. I assume it was meant for during dinner or family time, or parties when people seem to have to be forced to get off their devices and engage socially.

I didn’t buy it, because I knew nobody I know would want to use it — including me.

There could be something urgent I need to google between the turkey and the brussel sprouts.

Perhaps a selfie that simply can’t wait until after pie.

I’m not even sure we could handle all that quiet now.

I was thinking, this Christmas, if only for one day or one evening, it might be nice to try.

Maybe we could enjoy just the sounds of the Fireplace Channel crackling.

We could listen for a cat purring.

Quiet is essential when keeping an ear out for Santa on the roof.

Maybe it would be calming to listen for the beat of your own heart.

There’s not much I love about snow except for the fact it quiets and softens the world around us. 

My wish for everyone is just to turn off for a little while.

Turn the volume down.

If only for one silent night.


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About the Author: Wendy King

Wendy King writes about all kinds of things from nutrition to the job search from cats to clowns — anything and everything — from the ridiculous to the sublime. Watch for Wendy's column weekly.
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