We've Forgotten How to Be Noisy

For the first time since moving into my house I have really wanted to have a desk in my own room. Not because I want to get away from all the noise (there isn't much). Rather, I want to make some of it.

In a day when it is harder than ever to find silence, we have forgotten how to be noisy. Everywhere one goes music is constantly playing, and if no music is playing we pull out the Ipod. TVs drone incessantly in most public spaces. People absorb sounds like sponges everywhere they go. However, people don't make much sound themselves anymore.

We always read quietly, even poetry. We study quietly, and reason politely in our heads, without ever breaking into the audible. We even habitually pray "in our heads." We have opted for the figurative meaning of "your praise shall continually be in my mouth." If I started reciting the Greek alphabet out loud and continued with it, my roommates would probably be surprised and a bit annoyed. That kind of noise isn't expected when studying.

So I want a quiet space not only for the silence, but for the noise. Noise that doesn't come from out there, but from me.