Natural Silence

“My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence.” 

― Edith Sitwell

We may not have paved the entire globe yet, but we have completely banished silence everywhere with our own ubiquitous and endless clatter. 

There is very little natural silence left to be had anywhere, if any at all. 

I have always craved a break from the severely polluted soundscape, especially when I lived in a large city. 

The unceasing clamour of civilization is distracting. How can we hear the tiny voices of self and nature if the outside is always clanking and clunking obnoxiously?

That is why I have always sought out places where I can get a reprieve from traffic noise or car doors slamming or people mowing acres of grass for hours on end.

Natural silence, that rare and precious state, is defined as a soundscape with no human sound intrusions. 

It may not actually be silent, but has only natural sounds without intrusion from the grumbling belly of a hungry industrial 24/7 world.

The human animal is also part of the aural environment, but our ruckus dominates the soundscape just like our light pollution takes over the night sky, and our material pollution takes over the landscape and oceans. 

It is good and nourishing for one's brain, to exclusively hear bird calls, wind through the trees, or trickling water, even if only for a few minutes at a time.

We may not be able to get that these days without conducting a major expedition, and maybe not even then. 

Seeking out quieter places offers respite from the constant cacophony of civilization, and recharges the soul at the same time.

It is a good reminder that we aren't the only living things on this planet, although we are the noisiest.

Silence is the empty space required to become still enough to hear the small voices emanating from nature, and from your soul.

A visiting extraterrestrial would be right to ask, "When do you humans stop this infernal racket?" 

"WE DON'T", we would scream in unison. 

However, I did recently find a location in the woods where I could not hear anything other than the natural soundscape around me.

I got there on my bicycle, following trails deeper and deeper into the forest.

Finally, depending on which way the wind was blowing, I escaped the noise of a civilization that just can't stop, and is perhaps threatened by soul-piercing uncomfortable silences.

I could hear myself think, and felt calmer and more relaxed. And then, there it was - the sounds of vehicles on the highway off in the distance, and a jet flying overhead.

It got me to thinking. Just like we designate dark skies areas where light pollution is minimal and outstanding stargazing is possible, could we locate and designate areas where sound pollution is absent and there are only uninterrupted natural soundscapes to enjoy? 

That would be nice.

Are there any places like that left?

Shhh...