Quiet is something I’ve come to truly love. Not just appreciate… but genuinely need. There’s something so beautiful about being in a quiet house, completely on your own, with nothing but your own thoughts (or sometimes not even those). Just being. No noise, no distractions, no pressure. I find it incredibly peaceful.
I’ve realised over the years that I’m just not someone who thrives on noise. Too much of it feels overwhelming, almost suffocating. Busy places, crowds, loud environments — they drain me very quickly. It’s the same feeling I’ve talked about before when it comes to festivals or big cities. There’s only so much I can take before I start to feel a bit claustrophobic, like my brain needs an escape.
Quiet, on the other hand, feels like a reset. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy music — I absolutely do. But I like it in moments, not constantly. Michael, on the other hand, could happily have music playing all day long. He’ll put something on and just let it run in the background for hours. And while I do enjoy it, I also really notice the difference when he heads off to work and the house becomes still again. That moment when I can switch everything off and just enjoy the silence… I love it.
There was a time, years ago, when he’d get up before me and start doing things like vacuuming first thing in the morning. Honestly, that used to drive me mad. I’ve always needed to wake up slowly, gently, in peace. Thankfully, he’s much more thoughtful now.
Even now, as I’m writing this, I’m upstairs in my quiet office while he’s downstairs in his, with music playing. It’s funny how different we are in that way. It’s like he needs sound around him, whereas I’m completely comfortable without it.
And I think that’s the key thing — being comfortable in silence. I know a lot of people find it difficult. They feel the need to fill the space, to talk, to have something on in the background. Even with friends, there’s often that sense that silence needs to be filled. My best friend is a bit like that — she doesn’t really do comfortable silences.
But I love them. Being able to sit with someone and not feel the need to say anything… that feels like real ease to me. No pressure, no performance, just being.
Because quiet isn’t empty. It’s full, in its own way. It gives you space to think, to breathe, to settle. To come back to yourself. And in a world that can feel so loud and busy, that feels like something really worth holding onto.
This is something I touch on in my book too — that idea of slowing down, tuning out the noise, and reconnecting with yourself in a quieter, more meaningful way. If that resonates, you can find it on Amazon and if you google The Enchanted Midlife by Suzy Turner, you will also find it on numerous other online bookstores.
If you’re taking part in the A to Z Blogging Challenge this year, let me know in the comments so I can check out your posts. And if you’d like to catch up on the rest of mine, you can find some of them here: A is for Alchemy, B is for Becoming, C is for Cycles, D is for Disillusionment, E is for Energy, F is for Flaws, G is for Grumpy, H is for Hormones, I is for Intuition, J is for Joy, K is for Kindness, L is for Laughter, M is for Midlife, N is for Nourish, O is for Overthinking, P is for Purpose
