There is so much noise.
And it's everywhere.
And it's getting louder.
It's not just the sports bars where you can watch 20 different ESPN games whilst consuming Lady Gaga on the throttled-up Nakamichi sound system.
It's ALL restaurants now.
And airports.
And hotel lobbies.
And dentist office waiting rooms.
Even gas station pumps.
Heck, I've even watched the Nuggets play the Spurs from a men's room urinal!
Any location a human might have to wait in excess of five minutes for the next electronic stimuli is now fair game for the ad guys.
More music.
More TV.
More noise.
We've lost the art of silence.
The ability to just sit and think.
About everything...and about nothing.
You think its a coincidence that so many runners snag their best ideas and "ah-ha" moments on the trails instead of a Muzak-infused hermetically sealed office?
I don't.
Because slogging up Green Mountain or Dinosaur Ridge at 5:30 am is a hell of a great way to purge the mental hard-drive of the to-do lists, emails and pain-in-the-ass co-workers so it can re-fill with contemplation and creativity.
But contemplation and creativity require a still mind. Philosopher William Penn opined:
"true silence is the rest of the mind, it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment."
Sounds like William Penn was a distance runner.
So this weekend...
If you are looking for some quiet contemplation.
I say lace up the Brooks for a 5:30 am hill-climb up Chimney Gulch...
...and pass on the $300 Bose 20i accoustic noise cancellation headphones.
...unless they come with a big, mean headlamp to scare away the mountain lions.
After all...
It's dark at 5:30.
AMJ
