Silence equals noise

I saw a programme last night. Something about being green. It was quite interesting really- I was actually engrossed in a book at the time but it sufficiently captured my attention to (begrudgingly) pull away from my book. The telly was only meant to provide a bit of background noise, which I find strangely comforting- for reasons I shall attempt to explain.

Referring to the programme, I do realise this doesn't do much to my green credentials. If I am on my laptop then if I don't have my favourite album on (Anything by Kings of Leon at the moment), I have the telly blaring away. I don't tend to watch it- it is simply there because I don't like it to be too quiet. I am a thinker, a 'binge thinker' as I heard it referred to today, and so I don't like to get too lost in my own thoughts. Most of the time anyway.

Even when reading I have the compulsory noise in the background, be it music or telly. I come from large family, meaning I grew up in a fairly crowded house. One of 6 children sharing a 3 bedroom house with my parents means I am use to noise. Not having my own bedroom until I was 16 also means I am use to having someone around. Usually my brother. One of my annoying (and naughty) habits is to leave my laptop running all night. It saves all that hassle of turning it back on you know. But again, this means I tend to sleep with it buzzing away in the background on stand-by mode. Or even worse, I fall asleep whilst watching a film meaning the telly gets left on overnight. (Sorry planet!)

It's quite funny really, the background noise that fills my night-time world normally ends up incorporated into my dreams. The tick of my clock. The hum of my laptop. The news reader on the telly that was left on. Like when my alarm goes off and suddenly my dream is filled with whatever song I have chosen to wake me up and prepare me for my day. Anyway, I digress..

When my sisters, all 4 of them, finally moved out and my brother jumped ship to go study at uni then the original 8 became 3. Mum and Dad, and me. My Dad is a social kind of creature- he works all week early to late. In the evenings he is usually visiting a friend or having a drink in the pub. At weekends he keeps himself busy because he is from that generation that doesn't like to be doing nothing. My mum works part-time, and this means a lot of evenings she is at work, or she plays Darts and Bingo, or visits the pub also. Or shes loyally playing Facebook Bingo. AGAIN. This means that when I am not a dinner party with friends, or visiting a pub bar or club myself, then I'm often home alone. Or I might as well be- something I am definitely not use to. So I guess this noise must sort-of keep me company. Along with the squeaky floors my house possesses. Ask my partner- I have lived in this house my whole life so the constant background noise is comforting to me. But my partner has taken over 2 years to finally be able to get a good nights sleep here. That's perseverance- I must be well loved- and I do appreciate that.

On a similar note, I only live half-a-mile from a railway track and the trains marching along do nothing to affect my sleep. I'm located near a main road and opposite a park with equally little or no effect. Whilst the cars shoot by and the local 13 year old's are busy smashing the place up and sipping their White Lightning, I am lying comfortably in my bed without a care in the world. Bliss.

Silence is noise to me. It makes me uncomfortable. I hate one-minute silences. I hate it when everyone stops talking and a place goes dead silent. I don't like libraries. Its awkward. Noise is good and should be celebrated- and is not done so in my opinion. Maybe I'm biased though.

As it was a 'green' programme I was watching then please note that I do try and remember to put the timer on the telly, I unplug the laptop every so often- and I do my fair chunk of recycling. I try and be green. But as my 'background noise' caught my attention last night I was reminded about how much more I need to do. I will save that topic for a rainy day...or maybe it won't be raining, if global warming is to be believed, and outside will become a hot sandy beach. Alas, I can, but dream. (with weird noises fluttering in and out of them)