I’ve lived in a variety of different places over the last few years of my life. Sometimes I’ve lived in cities, other moments I’ve spent in more suburban and rural environments. After a lot of shifting around, I’ve come to the conclusion that you want to avoid the hustle and bustle of the big city. Or if you live in the thick of things, you want to be living in a sky scrapper. This is because silence is truly golden. I learned this when I moved to the suburbs with a family member. At first, I was socially isolated. But slowly, the way I thought began to change. Now, I’m more productive, at ease, and think more clearly. I personally think this is due to how quiet my new neighborhood is. I used to hear cars, buses, trucks, people, and commotion outside of my house. I was in the middle of the bustling city of a poor country. The cars weren’t great and there were people on the street. The new place in which I’m currently located can be high traffic in the mornings, but it’s usually silent outside of the people who work the grounds. This has caused a massive quality of life improvement for me, to the point where I think people should actively avoid living in big, crowded cities if they’re looking to do their best work.
Silence makes it easier to think
You think living in the city is normal. Until you move to the suburbs where it’s actually quiet. It’s amazing how nice, pleasant, and clear your surroundings feel when the people in your vicinity are spread out and have a proper understanding of appropriate volume. I live very close to a supermarket, but only hear crickets at night. I’m able to produce article after article as a result. Living with family also helps create a more silent environment. I could be living with roommates who party. A woman in her 80s is infinitely quieter. Massive productivity gains.
The more clearly you can think, the more productive you are
When you’re distracted and scatterbrained…. You’re distracted and scatterbrained. You don’t know what you’re doing, and you don’t want to spend much time doing it. If you can think clearly, you’ll be able to do more effective work for longer. This means more money in your pocket, and more people in your corner.
Silence makes it easier to process emotions
Unless the banter is entirely narcissistic, I find that learning to deal with total silence makes it easier to deal with difficult and uncomfortable feelings. When you deal with total silence, you face yourself. Even if it takes you a single beer or spliff to get through some moments of silence, you’re going to be stronger and have a better understanding of self than if you drown those feelings out with banter. Don’t spend too much time in your own head or avoiding others but learn to spend time in silence.
Poor people have to deal with noise
And I swear it affects their thought processes. This isn’t to say that poor people aren’t smart, are lazy, or that they can’t succeed and lift themselves out of poverty. But as someone who has the privilege of living away from poor people, you can tell that they’re more stressed. They need to come up with tactics to avoid the chaos around them and need to learn indifference because avoiding work isn’t an option. I can’t imagine growing up without the advantages with which I did. Silence is an advantage, trust me.
Silence is golden, and it’s best to stay out of the way. Being too social makes you meet shittier people faster. My dead friend said this, and it’s true to a certain degree, even though I don’t want to end up like him. Being socially isolated is bad, but there’s a lot of value to silence. If you can carve out large pockets of silence for yourself, you should find yourself experiencing life completely differently from before.
