Quiet

Today I am keenly aware of how noisy my life is.  I spent the weekend with some friends at a secluded cabin in the Sangre de Cristo mountains.  No TV.  No phones.  No Radio.  Of course, we went snow boarding, shopping in Santa Fe, and ate out quite a bit.  But when I walked in the door to my house yesterday, the TV was on and the kids were being kids.  The dog was barking and jumping.  My phone was dinging at me about text messages.  And as I sat on the couch after six hours in the car, I could feel myself becoming agitated.  That's when it hit me that the amount of sound around me was the source of my agitation.  I'm not faulting the kids for being kids, nor am I saying I couldn't have turned the TV off.  It was just an eye opening moment.  The fact of the matter is that I LOVE to hear my children playing, being kids.  There are many TV shows I enjoy.  And I even moderately enjoy our dog (some times).  But I need to have more of the quiet.  I need more of those moments in the recliner in front of a crackling fire reading a good book.  I need to turn off the phone/TV/computer/iPod more often.  It was good for my soul.  

And then I need to learn how to smoothly transition from stillness to necessary noise without losing my mind!