Zion Park Peace vs Noise

I recently took a five day tour/ retreat in Zion Park Utah. The amazing scenery brought out the beauty of silence and highlighted the noisiness of, well, noise.

In the group I signed up to travel with we were encouraged during our hikes to leave our phones off, and if at all possible to refrain from talking to each other. We were told to try and not let technology "stalk us" on our trip. If you wanted to talk to someone we were told to first ask if they wanted to talk also instead of just talking without thinking.

Day one of this was a little different than the usual imaginary obligation I feel I have to respond to texts, or check email and Facebook.

By the second day it had already become the norm, and when encountering other hikers on the path I realized how noisy, and loud they seemed. Not only did they talk among themselves I felt myself being drawn into their conversations. I found myself waiting for other groups to pass and distance themselves so I could take in what it appears we fear so much in our culture Silence.

I decided the only person I would stay in contact with would be my daughter. The more silence I experienced, the more of it I wanted. It felt strange spending a day in nature and then returning to the hotel to mindlessly flip through the TV. Instead of my usual routine of finding additional stimulation, I opted out for sitting outside, or walking more in the park

After spending days in intentional peace and quite and then heading into Las Vegas to fly home all the noise was intensified.

I found myself distracted by the amount of people on cell phones. I felt like my peace was being challenged by all the chatter standing in lines. Music coming from everywhere, and endless screens fighting for my attention. I found myself thinking about these lyrics from the Kenney Chesny song Noise.

Twenty-four hour television, get so loud that no one listens
Sex and money and politicians talk, talk, talk
But there really ain't no conversation
Ain't nothing left to the imagination
Trapped in our phones and we can't make it stop, stop this noise yeah we scream, yeah we shout 'til we don't have a voice
In the streets, in the crowds, it ain't nothing but noise

I sat in the airport looking at all the screens fighting to get in front of my face, from restaurants, to the backs of my airplane seat offering me games, and entertainment. Has always been this noisy? When did we start fearing silence so much we are no longer comfortable without some kind of noise?

I started to resent the screens that fought for my attention, trying to take it from people I was sitting across from or even myself.

Do you find yourself caught up in the noise?