Greetings from My Mountain Cabin,
I once had an opportunity to facilitate an Outdoor Therapy seminar for a group of healthcare professionals in Columbus, Georgia. One of the activities we experienced was called Aural Mapping. Participants were sitting on the grass in the center of a college campus. They were asked to close their eyes and try to identify all of the sounds they could hear from their location. After ten or so minutes, they were invited to open their eyes.
Index cards were distributed and group members were asked to draw a symbol of each sound, locating it in reference to an X in the center of the card which represented their present location. Then, they were instructed to draw a horizontal continuum line, with one end labeled pleasant and the other, unpleasant. Sounds were ranked according to how they compared with one another and how close they existed toward the opposing poles of the line.
A mark was made indicating where pleasant and unpleasant juxtaposed, thus separating noise from those sounds that were enjoyable.
Participants were asked: "What percentage of the sounds you have identified would you consider unpleasant?"
In this urban location, an average of 85% to 90% of the sounds were deemed unpleasant. These included jet aircraft on final approach to a local airport, traffic on a busy nearby eight lane highway, cars and vans moving through campus, the sound of air conditioning compressors and construction equipment.
The not-so-subtle message in this activity was: "In what ways does the sea of sound surrounding you affect your mindset—your stress level, ability to communicate and focus upon daily tasks?" In other words, "Is this environment supportive of or a challenge to your personal wellness?"
A conclusion that met with unanimous accord was that many people go about their day seemingly oblivious to their aural environment, when in fact, it can be quite deleterious. Simple white noise it is not.
No doubt there are adepts among us who are practiced in effortlessly tuning out the cacophony that assaults our ears in an urban environment. Yet, this may prove difficult for those not so skilled.
Withdrawing quietly into one's soul may require concerted effort. I invite you to discover and periodically return to your own special place that is relatively isolated from the outside world:
✶ a park, riverbank, garden or meadow
✶ a special room in or corner of your home where distractions can be kept at a minimum—where you can meditate, read a book, listen to soothing music . . . or just be.
✶ a trail or tree-lined path whose vegetation absorbs intrusive sounds
. . . and visit your quiet setting regularly, to nurture that special place within that is your ultimate venue for retreat.
Be well, do good work, keep in touch,
Ed
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