NOISE

 

Sound that is loud, unpleasant, unexpected, or undesired. A loud outcry or commotion.

I have always been sensitive to noise. Not sound. Sound has been one of my biggest joys in life. You all know what I mean – music, laughter, rain, voices of the people we love. Sound is truly a gift from God.

Noise, on the other hand, comes in many forms and is not necessarily auditory. There are unwelcome sounds, like the barking of a dog when we are trying to sleep, helicopters or jet airplanes that seem like they are about to land in our living room. We could all name many more sources of unwelcome sounds. But for me, those are not the most troubling.

The noise of negativity, fear and emotional conflict is the loudest and most distressing. It is like a huge vacuum cleaner sucking up joy and peacefulness. And I let it happen. Sometimes I even pursue it. Or create it. At the least I feed it.

As a counselor I spend a lot of time trying to help people reduce the emotional noise in their lives. Inaccurate beliefs, misinformation and trauma all create a mind full of chaos. The result is confusion – a lack of clarity. When we can’t see beyond the noise we might become impulsive, compulsive or frozen.

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:14

I don’t know if I can call doomscrolling evil, but I can safely call it unproductive and feeding on garbage. It adds to the noise and it never produces peace. It produces all kinds of pessimistic feelings. Fear, sadness, powerlessness and anger are all the outcome of hours spent entertaining oneself with negative social media. Looking for the worst in people we interact with is a type of emotional doomscrolling.

There are at minimum two things that every human being needs to thrive emotionally: love and safety. Studies have shown that deprived of these, we will also suffer physically. In the extreme, the lack of either of these two conditions will produce trauma that may take years to unravel.

So how do we turn down the noise?

On the receiving side we must distance ourselves from the sources that produce the noise. Some years back I had become addicted to talk radio programs. I had to break the habit. I was feeding more on the media and less from the word of God. I changed my listening diet. Much earlier in my life there were toxic people with whom I had to restrict or break my connection. It was not easy, but it gave me room for healthier relationships.

On the giving side we can be the source of kindness. It is a powerful antidote to all the anxiety and stress that people are enduring these days. Kind connection. Ready smiles. Gentle words. Patience. Practice gratitude every day. All of these help to turn down the noise.

“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony”
Colossians 3:14