When’s the Last Time You Listened to Yourself?

 Today, I spent 45 minutes driving through rush-hour traffic without any background noise.

No music.

No news.

No conversation.

And because my car is electric, not even the hum of an engine.

This wasn’t planned or some intentional exercise in mindfulness.  I just started driving and, for whatever reason, never turned anything on.  That almost never happens because normally, I fill the silence before I even realize it’s there.

What surprised me was how peaceful the drive felt.  The traffic was still traffic.  People were still cutting across lanes and treating turn signals as optional equipment.  None of that changed.  What changed was that I wasn’t adding more noise to the experience.

For 45 minutes, I simply listened to my own thoughts.  Some were meaningful while others were completely random.  It felt good to let them develop without immediately interrupting them with a song, a news story, or another person’s voice.

I have never considered myself much of a meditation person.  Sitting still and trying not to think sounds like an excellent way to make me think about everything!  However, today helped me understand the perceived value.  Maybe meditation isn’t about eliminating thought.  Maybe it’s about creating enough quiet to actually notice what is happening inside your own head.

I didn’t experience any major epiphany or dramatic breakthrough.  Just an unexpectedly peaceful drive that made me wonder how often I use noise to avoid silence without even realizing it.

Maybe this is something I will make an effort to do more regularly.

When’s the last time you listened to yourself without interrupting?