Silence, Peace. Just a breather for my mind.

Have you ever had enough noise, and wish for nothing but peace? Television commercials are especially bad at this, instead filling every nanosecond with ear-splitting noise. It used to be thought that younger audiences required constant noise and motion (MTV specifically was good at doing this), but those concepts have imbedded themselves into everything it seems. Perhaps it's just me, but I do enjoy allowing events to dwell quietly for a bit. Jokes are especially subject to this. For instance, George Burns, Jerry Seinfeld, and Jack Benny (an absolute master of the prolonged stare) turned pauses into art forms, creating humor out of nearly anything.

I'll give away a secret of mine: sometimes I wear headphones and am not listening to anything whatsoever. Yup, I do it just so I can retreat into my own head and think, rather than absorb all the stimuli around me. And, no, I won't ignore someone or use my quiet to annoy. I just want a bit of peace sometimes. Funny how in our modern society of incredible marvels and bewildering technologies has such minimal times of nothing going on. We bury ourselves underneath mountains of sound, activity, and business.

Take a walk in the mountains and you'll discover what I yearn for. There's terrific peace and pleasure to be had when you're out in nature, somewhat far from civilization. Just get away from it all. Turn off your phone, look up, and realize there's a lot more to do in life. At the very least, try and find some peace, with no loud music or interruptions, and definitely less frantic activity. Slow down. Enjoy life. It won't bite ... well, not the things without teeth at least.

- M