Puttery Thoughts For A Quieter Day
30 Ways To Hush the Noise
*Close your eyes and listen. What do you hear? What can you do about it? Close a window? Fix that dripping tap? Switch the radio off? Have the teenagers adopted?
*Switch your phone off for at least an hour a day. Or at the very least, pause all notifications. It isn’t the fact that it is particularly noisy, more so that on some emotional level you are waiting for it to ring or bing, and when you are trying to enjoy quiet, it is essential that your peace isn’t disturbed by expectation.
*Make peace with unfinished things. The laundry pile will never be truly empty. The to-do list will never be entirely crossed off. Accepting this is like unclenching your jaw after years of holding tension you didn’t even know was there.
*Invest in silence. Get yourself the softest slippers, a gentle ticking clock, or a candle that smells like old bookshops. Silence isn’t just the absence of noise; it’s the presence of things that soothe you.
*Whenever you are alone in the house, make a conscious effort to turn the TV off. You don’t have to spoon feed your mind with other peoples nonsense- tape what you truly need to watch for later and learn to enjoy the silence.
*Turn pottering into a ritual. Rather than rushing through the house like a woman possessed, make your daily puttering an act of meditation. Slowly wipe down the kitchen table. Re-fold that throw blanket with reverence. Let your hands move gently, as if smoothing out life’s little frictions.
*Create a sanctuary chair. A single, quiet place that is yours alone. A chair by the window, a corner of the bed, a spot on the porch. A place where no one asks anything of you, and you don’t ask anything of yourself.
*Take time out: should the opportunity arise, lie down. Lie down, close your eyes and make the whole world disappear for ten minutes. The dishes can wait.
*Treat yourself to a pair of Loop earbuds and wander blissfully through days gently hushed.
*Shell peas, peel apples, chop vegetables mindfully. Let the rhythm of small domestic tasks calm you: a lullaby for your hands.
*Turn down the volume of your mind. The endless lists, the worries, the shoulds and coulds and maybes. Imagine a little dial in your head and physically turn it down. Make space for silence inside yourself.
*Do one thing at a time. Multitasking is noisy, even when it’s silent. Eat without scrolling. Walk without talking. Drink tea without planning tomorrow’s to-do list in your head. Let yourself be fully where you are.
*Paper is exhausting and is I think the very worst kind of visual clutter. Blast it daily with a 27 fling boogie and consider going digital wherever you can: for magazines and papers, bills and other correspondance.
*Hush the chatter. Not every conversation needs to happen the moment someone feels the urge to speak. Establish a “soft silence” rule in the evenings—no discussions about logistics, finances, or the peculiar horrors of the news. Just calm voices, or better yet, none at all.
*Iron something slowly. A pillowcase, a tea towel, a napkin. Breathe in the scent of warm fabric, listen to the gentle hiss of steam, and let the rhythm soothe you.
*Give yourself permission to dawdle. Take the longer route home. Stand by the window and watch the clouds. Walk without a destination. Not everything needs to be efficient—some things are simply meant to be enjoyed.
*Don’t answer right away. When the email pings, the text dings, the question is asked—pause. Let time stretch between the request and your response. Let yourself think before you give away your time and energy.
*Softness is silent. Even if you aren’t leaving the house, even if no one will see. A cashmere cardigan, a pair of fluffy socks, an old T-shirt that feels like a second skin. Let comfort be your quiet companion.
*Go around the entire house and put away at least two items from every surface you come across. If there isn’t so much to see, your mind won’t feel so noisy.
*Stop explaining yourself. You don’t have to justify why you don’t want to go out, why you need a quiet night, why you aren’t answering your phone. Simply say, not today, and leave it at that.
*Colour can be astonishingly loud. Go out of your way to hush it, by introducing whites and creams to a room (towels, tablecloths, quilts, pillows, flowers etc), if only for the time that you are trying to calm your mind.
*Practise saying No. It won’t make you a social pariah and it will help you create the time you need to sort your life out and hush that constant sense of obligation. Trust me, the world won’t stop without you.
*Make an effort to not be in the same room as your partner for at least an hour every evening. Yes they may be lovely, but it is essential to seek quality time alone and it is with our partners that the instinctive, unconscious noise of trying to please (or trying not to displease) can be at it’s loudest.
*Don’t read magazines or online news after 9.00pm. Choose gentle stories or meditative books. Or simply fire gaze, without cluttering your mind.
*Sit down and decide to commit to a housekeeping routine: it truly is the best way to remove that nagging sense of exhaustion at the thought of it. My routine works for me and has allowed me to create a life abundant with free time and violet cremes. Sit down with your planner and work out a routine that works for you.
*Remember that beauty is calming. Put a flower, candle, or object you adore wherever your eyes are constantly drawn to: ie the mantlepiece, window sill, piece of furniture facing your bed, shelf above the sink etc…
*Make peace with unfinished things. The laundry pile will never be truly empty. The to-do list will never be entirely crossed off. Accepting this is like unclenching your jaw after years of holding tension you didn’t even know was there.
*Make a decision to eat simpler. Plan your meals and reduce the need for constant shopping.
*Breathe. Oh, I know, it sounds silly. But truly, how often do we take a real, deep breath? Close your eyes, inhale slowly, fill up your chest, then let it out, long and slow. Do it twice more. There now—doesn’t everything feel just a little quieter?
*And last of all: get your internet addiction under control. You don’t have to answer every email immediately, or furnish every post with a response. You shouldn’t have the screen blinking away in the corner of the room all day and it is always, always essential to remember that your real life matters more than any virtual one…