Let’s do a quick test. Close your eyes. Just for ten seconds. Nope, no procrastination here, and no “I’ll do it later”! We’ll wait, promise.
Back already? Good. Did you hear all the tiny details that were previously unnoticeable to you? Perhaps it was the quiet noise of the screen, the fly passing by, your family talking in the next room, the way the wind rattled the walls of the building. Or, if you searched closely, it was your breathing, the heartbeat that you heard in your head, the feel of clothes rubbing against your skin as you shifted?
These sounds are always there, but we have forgotten how to listen to them. We shut these sounds off, only hearing them when we put a special focus on that. However, this silence can teach us a lot about the world, ourselves, and those people we hold dear.
All the Noise That We Carry
Research and media agree on the fact that we live in a clamorous world, and it wears us out. Today, more than ever, our minds are absorbing a tremendous amount of noise from the outside and ourselves. We forget about it because it’s the new norm, but our minds don’t.
Have you ever felt like your brain couldn’t take in more information, or you might explode? Even if you haven’t read much on that day or even haven’t watched the news, you have absorbed a lot of outside noise, and it weighs on you.
Our culture of constant stimulation doesn’t help either: we get bored without the continuous feed of a FYP, and we are always listening to another Netflix show in the background while we’re cooking dinner. Specialists in the Liven app review the impact of endless noise, and they have found that there are costs people tend to overlook. In that constant digital and informational noise, do you talk to your loved ones? Listen to your own thoughts?
It brings us into a bottomless pit of isolation, even without us knowing it. We pretend to be there, but our bodies move on autopilot. And when we get to sleep, we don’t feel closer to ourselves at all. We’ve taken in all the fast food info without listening to something that matters.
Why We Feel Uncomfortable In the Silence
Suppose you have noticed that already in you. You don’t like this constant mental and physical overwhelm, but the moment you try to sit in silence, it feels awful.
We are so used to so many sounds and words that our first attempts to exist in quiet become difficult, sometimes even impossible. It can feel awkward, heavy, or even threatening. In moments of stillness, we often find ourselves reaching for something — a phone, a playlist, a conversation, a task — anything to fill the quiet. Why does this happen?
Silence removes the buffer between ourselves and our inner world. Your mind doesn’t get to break through to you if you are filling it with something. But the moment you are quiet, all sorts of thoughts and ideas spring to mind. And we often don’t want to hear them.
It exposes us. Silence takes away the roles we play and the chatter we try to hide behind. Without words, we are left with just presence. If we’ve learned to associate being with performing and achieving, this “nothing” truly feels empty.
But here’s the thing: this silence is exactly what can lead us to the most important discoveries.
Learn to Stay — Don’t Hit That Stop Button
If you are uncomfortable with silence, whether alone or with others, there’s no need to rush yourself into a long meditation session and struggle with keeping your mind on things. It’ll backfire and only make you resent the attempt and a silent mind.
Start gentler.
Give yourself a small promise to check in with yourself at least several times a day. Pause a video you’ve been watching, stop the podcast, and set your social media aside. What do you feel? An urge to get back? Or a stretch? Or maybe you are exhausted? This pause alone is a great start.
From there, you can begin experimenting with short moments of intentional stillness. You might sit with your coffee in the morning without music or scrolling. You might go for a walk without a podcast. You might lie on your bed and let your thoughts drift without rushing to change them. There will be times of stepping back, but don’t let them trick you into giving up. You are learning so much about yourself.
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