the voices, the voices!
I've been, in the last two days, in the most natural setting I've been in for quite a long time. When I went out for a hike yesterday I had a debate with myself about whether to bring my iPod or not, and in the end decided it would defeat the purpose of a hike in nature to do so listening to the news or music. But what I realized, once on the trail, is that I've been so used to constant sound that my mind doesn't really know what to do with itself when it's not around. Being in NY means there's always some kind of ambient man-made noise, be it people hanging out on the corner outside the apartment or cars shooting by or air conditioners humming. Perhaps in retaliation to this, my mind defaults to music a lot of the time, and the purchase of an iPod appears to have helped this tendency. Now, it seems, I can't get my mind to shut up.
The natural landscape here in Banff is incredible, and sometimes it has overpowered the music. Like on my hike the other day the wind was sweeping up the side of the mountain towards me. It's one of my favourite sensations: faintly hearing the far-off trees rustle, and then, as though there's some huge animal or a giant wave crashing through the forest towards you, the nearer trees begin to move, and then the ones nearer them, closer and closer, until the forest around you is swaying and creaking and the wind is rushing through their branches above. But soon after that, much to my dismay, James Brown crept in and stayed for the rest of the way up.
I wonder if one of those monastic retreats could cure this problem. I mean, there has to be only so much mental playback I'm capable of (although as many can attest, I do have a pretty good memory for songs). Maybe a month in a non-speaking, meditative environment would be the way to go. But then I wonder how long it would last after I got back to my world of noise and conveniently accessible media? Maybe it's just as logical to try to train my brain amidst the cacophony it finds itself in.
As I write this the World Cup is on the TV in my room, and I have a Chris Murray song in my head. And, I suppose, I also have these words in there too. I guess for now I should just enjoy the company. :)
The natural landscape here in Banff is incredible, and sometimes it has overpowered the music. Like on my hike the other day the wind was sweeping up the side of the mountain towards me. It's one of my favourite sensations: faintly hearing the far-off trees rustle, and then, as though there's some huge animal or a giant wave crashing through the forest towards you, the nearer trees begin to move, and then the ones nearer them, closer and closer, until the forest around you is swaying and creaking and the wind is rushing through their branches above. But soon after that, much to my dismay, James Brown crept in and stayed for the rest of the way up.
I wonder if one of those monastic retreats could cure this problem. I mean, there has to be only so much mental playback I'm capable of (although as many can attest, I do have a pretty good memory for songs). Maybe a month in a non-speaking, meditative environment would be the way to go. But then I wonder how long it would last after I got back to my world of noise and conveniently accessible media? Maybe it's just as logical to try to train my brain amidst the cacophony it finds itself in.
As I write this the World Cup is on the TV in my room, and I have a Chris Murray song in my head. And, I suppose, I also have these words in there too. I guess for now I should just enjoy the company. :)
posted by Mike at 1:27 PM
1 Comments:
I just heard My Hump for the first time tonight. In a bar full of drunken theatre techs. Enough said.
Sweet sweet Flava Flav....I really hope there's an old school P.E. reunion in the offing, to be televised in the near future. They could call it "Fear of a Black Surreal Life" or something.
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