Walled Women

In a time when I feel like I'm always plugged in or listening to something, silence to me looks like taking a moment to unplug the headphones, close my eyes, and stop everything for a moment. Media, music, television, movies--pervasive, addicting, wonderful, distracting?  Cutting myself off from the information flow can be annoying--I don't really like the feeling of having my earbuds in without any sounds filtering through them, and it makes me feel vulnerable to be removed from any sensory input with my eyes shut as well. But the feeling is only temporary, and I can listen to the world without the earbuds, to the (relative) quiet of my hall and the crickets dancing outside my window. Which of these is more silent, I wonder? Does letting in the natural noise of our surroundings, or not listening to anything at all, better represent silence? I guess I'd say that earbuds with no sounds is more silent, but, at least for me, much more uncomfortable than sitting quietly in my room and listening to my fingers tapping the keys, the conversations of my hallmates, and all the "noise" that is produced in nature, that I can never turn off.

I hope I managed to do this post right. It's been a while since I've grappled with Serendip. I chose this picture based on a conversation that took place in a Social Work class I am work in. As a way for students to introduce themselves, the professor asked each student who they would bring on a space mission (no family). While the answers varied, almost every student mentioned the need for someone who would fill the silence that would inevitably permeate the mission. This, in my mind, indicated that the students percieved silence and a primarily negative aspect of their space journey -- something empty that needed to be fixed. As space is often used to represent the great unknown -- one of humanity's greatest fears -- I have chosen to represent silence with this picture of the cosmos becuase  from this conversation I learned that people are also quite fearful of silence and try to avoid it at all costs. 

Welcome into the "silence" portion of this 360! By Wednesday evening, please follow the instructions @ "how to add an image to your post," and put up here your current "visualization" of silence....along w/ any explanation you'd like to offer.... and don't forget to tag your posting as "silence" (you'll see the options below the "body" portion of the post).