listen

With youth, comes noise.
When we are young, we have an inherent need to surround ourselves with noise. Loudly playing music, football games, telephone chatter…even the sound of our own voices proclaiming independence, our superiority, and our wisdom consumes precious mind space, and clutters our thoughts.  
Sound is somehow reassuring, and comforts us in moments of solitude.  

With age, comes the desire for self reflection.
Silence is golden, and listening is necessary for internal contemplation, for rumination, and conclusion.  I find the more I am quiet, the more others will speak to fill the void.  The more I listen, the more insight I gain into the greater scheme of human nature.

I find myself sitting in the quiet, listening to the roar of the household.  I no longer leap to turn on the television or the radio, but choose instead to bask in the silence and derive peace from its presence.  

Judgment is left to someone other than myself.