Archive for August, 2011
The Endangered Sound of Silence
On a recent holiday in Northern Italy, three experiences reminded me of the importance of silence. Most people would say that silence is the opposite of sound, but I take a different view. Silence is a sound, as well as being a context for all other sounds. To understand this it is necessary to experience it.
The first experience was a visit to Isola S. Giulio in the middle of beautiful Lake Orta, near Milan. This small island houses a basilica and a convent for a community of nuns of a silent order, which is why it’s known as ‘the island of silence’. Encircling the island is a single footpath: La Via del Silenzio. Visitors are encouraged to walk the path in silent reflection, and every hundred metres or so there is a board showing one meditation on silence for the way out, and on the other side one for the way back. I was struck by these meditations because they are so universal. These are not Catholic dogma; rather, they resonate with the deep wisdom mined by every spiritual path that has discovered the power of silence – which is most of them. Walking the path and internalising these reflections created a sense of deep peace and wellbeing, and of being fully present in the moment – which is probably saying the same thing in two ways.
Get The Sound Of Silence In Your Car
Cars can be very noisy indeed, they clinker, they clatter, not to mention you can hear all the other cars on the road, the wind and rain pelting against you car – and the vibrations as you move. All this noise can make a car journey very stressful for driver and passengers and often stops them from enjoying their music as they cruise along the road – after all, music interrupted by clinks and clatter is not that soothing. The solution to this problem is sound deadening sheets, which dull down and block out sounds outside your car.
Sound deadening sheets are often used by car experts in the industry, but now they are available to everyone. They combat and illuminate a number of problems including outside noises, vibrations and stop your car from overheating. The light weight sheets, made by Dynamat, are to be placed in the interior of the car, including the roof, floor, doors and boot to create a lining on the inside of the car. The sound deadening sheets not only make your ride more relaxing, they make your car feel more solid due to the flexible but strong aluminum and specialist materials used which enable you to mould the sheets easily to the parameter as well as converts energy more effectively and rapidly.