“All the great pleasures of life are silent.”
Clemenceau
This is the quote on the bottom of the calendar for June 22nd 2005, which happens to be my birthday. I find it rather ironic given:
a. I’m a musician
b. I’ve just found out I will have to wear hearing aids for the rest of my life.
Having said this, I agree with the quote, in a lot of respects. We live in such a noisy world; sometimes it is really hard to appreciate quiet when we hear it.
In the past, I’ve lived in large cities, reasonably large towns and tiny hamlets. I’ve lived close to the ocean, in inland cities and in the desert. Of all the places I lived, none was quieter than the desert. This quiet is unusual because sounds one never really hears, like heartbeats and the rush of blood through veins, become noticeable. I spent close to three years in the desert and during this time lost the ability to be able to hear these things, as these sounds were replaced by the early stages of tinnitus. The shame of this is I loved sitting out in the desert, watching the stars and listening to my heart beating away.
My favourite noise, though, would have to be the sound of the ocean. When I have been able to live within hearing distance, I find a quality to this sound like no other. I feel much more relaxed and peaceful. I feel more able to cope with everyday matters and problems. It has such a calming affect on me. Recently, while staying in a holiday cabin very close to the ocean, I noticed something else as well. My tinnitus didn’t seem to be as pronounced as it usually is with the sound of the ocean in the background. Weird, huh? I don’t know why this is but I was really grateful for the break it provided.
Some more of my favourite sounds are of simple things, like rain on a galvanised roof, the purr of my cat and wind in the trees outside my bedroom window. I love hearing my wife sing as she cooks and the sound of her voice on the radio in the morning (she is a radio news journalist working for a large commercial station). I love the sound of thunder and lightning, the strum of a beautiful guitar and the giggles of my nieces and nephews as they play Playstation games. Sure, I may not be able to hear a lot of things, but I wonder just how important these things are, sometimes. I would far rather hear my favourite things than put up with some mindless cacophony. I think with the discovery, or should say diagnosis of my hearing problems, I’ve realised just how much is worth listening to and even more so, how much is not. What are some of your favourite sounds?