Recently, I heard on a program how in today’s technologically advanced world, we do not go about much any longer without noise.

That’s right. Noise.

Silence has become passe.

We are wakened by an alarm clock, we turn on the television for the morning news, (or computer- complete with video)- some of us, mostly kids go to the computer and tune into YouTube or an online radio. We get in our cars and turn on the radio, or some other form of music. And then we go to jobs where we listen all day long to phones ringing, printers printing, and all manner of office noise. After work, we go home to watch more television, movies, or video games and we literally have no moments of silence at all until we are trying to go to sleep, but some of us are now using machines to pour out nature sounds to “soothe” us into slumber.

What??

That’s not so bad, you say?

Well, consider this: creativity thrives in silence. As writers, we should crave it in order to allow our minds to send us those valuable ideas not to mention the conversations that we are missing out on. You know, the ones that once tweaked the Muse into creating a WHOLE book from? Being “plugged in” has its benefits, sure, but being “unplugged” is totally important too. So I challenge you to try silence for a few hours each day. Find time to visit with your Muse and let him/her tell you what is on their mind.

I’m going to go do that right now.