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Peace & Quiet<br />
By: Liz Breier / This & That<br />
My friend back recently retired. She was<br />
lamenting that while she does not want to<br />
be alone and feels she will miss the comradery of<br />
fellow employees, she is curious to see what the<br />
next phase of her life will be.<br />
This friend is alone with her beloved pooch companion and is<br />
nervous about the solitude. I reminded her of our youth together,<br />
friends, parties, parents, school, then college, jobs, careers. And she did<br />
have a sibling and now a nephew with children she adores visiting.<br />
All that noise for so many years. I suggested she just turn off the TV,<br />
radio and even her cell phone and sit quietly with Ollie (her pup) by<br />
her side and enjoy the tranquility.<br />
We get so used to being entertained and talked to and volume coming<br />
at us from every direction, it’s nice to enjoy the silence sometimes. She<br />
agreed that it was relaxing.<br />
8<br />
April 2022<br />
To substantiate the point of how we are so addicted to noise, I looked<br />
around at the gym recently and noticed just about everyone had<br />
headphones, earphones or a cell phone to their ears or some device to<br />
be entertained while they workout. One individual does his workout<br />
while watching movies on his iPad.<br />
I confess – I have listened to my earbuds at the gym too, although I<br />
often prefer an audio book. I tried having a go at it without the audio<br />
distraction and it was very enjoyable to be able to concentrate on my<br />
exercises.<br />
On my walks around the neighborhood, I would take the offending<br />
earbuds but when I walked without the noise, I noticed more of the<br />
nature around me.<br />
Somehow, over a lifetime we have become addicted to noise. How<br />
many of us leave a television or radio (or Alexa) on while doing things<br />
at home, just to have the “company”? Is it necessary?<br />
Thanks to my old friend for helping to remind me that silence can be<br />
“golden.” It’s nice to sit quietly in our “golden” years and enjoy peace<br />
and quiet after a lifetime of music, talking, and lots of noise.<br />
Congratulations on your retirement Ellen!<br />
Liz Breier is an ex-New Yorker who retired to Florida for 24 years<br />
before deciding that Nevada means home to her. You can contact<br />
Liz at: bluesky090372@gmail.com.
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