Are you suffering from this new addiction

Are you suffering from this new addictionAre you suffering from this new addictionWhen I was a boy living in the mountains of Northern California, I used to venture into the woods behind ur house. There was a favorite tree I often climbed.Illustration by John P. Weiss.At the top, the limbs splayed about perfectly into a kind of chair. I would sit there, nestled in the canopy of leaves, as the wind gently rocked the tree back and forth.I used to close my eyes in silence and listen to the soft sounds of the woods. The quiet song of birds, the breeze rustling through my hair. I was alone with my thoughts, and a kind of peace would wash over me.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreOther days, I used to lie down on our living room carpet with my sketchpad and pencils. In the quiet of my imagination, I drew all kinds of things. Warriors, strange creatures and fantasy landscapes. I was comp letely relaxed and absorbed in my creativity.Fast forward forty years or so, and everything nowadays seems to be punctuated by noise. Quiet reflection and peaceful moments have been drowned out by blaring screens, screaming car stereos, chattering YouTube videos and people with their phones on speaker as they stand in the grocery store check out line.Writer Devin Foley, in anarticlefor the websiteIntellectual Takeout, wroteHonestly, everything we do needs a soundtrack.He went on to noteI think we have trained ourselves, through a constant barrage of noise, to ignore the nagging, quiet inner voice. In silence we find ourselves stripped of everything but the fact of ourbeing.What are we trying to escape from with all this noise today? Why must we reach for our smartphones every time we wait in line? Are we afraid of our thoughts? Are we drowning out a deeper part of ourselves?Todays new addiction is noise, and many of us are suffering from it. We require constant entertainment, at the expense of quiet reflection and the serenity of silence.Devin Foley went on to prozentanteil Flannery OConnor, the great 20th-century writerPerhaps the feeling I keep asking for, is something again selfish?- ?something to help me feel that everything with me is all right.Foley addedWe arent meant for this noisy existence. In silence we are forced to confront that which is not right with ourselves, while in noise we escape. The noise does not make things right, we simply move from one noise to another while never learning how to be, to have a sense that with me all isright.I think Devin Foley is on to something. Im not sure all this noise is good for us. The arrival of 5G promises a rich, immersive augmented and virtual reality. Really?I think I prefer that old tree in the woods, swaying in the breeze as the birds softly sang and deer quietly passed below. In the serenity of nature, I seem to think more deeply and feel a kind of peace that all of todays digital noise will never be a ble to compete with.If youre suffering from this new addiction to digital noise, try stepping away from it. Get out in nature. Practice meditation. Reacquaint yourself with quiet downtime. You might be surprised by the deeper thoughts youll have, and the unexpected solutions to problems.Reintroduce yourself to silence, and you just might discover that with me all is right.Before yougoImJohn P. Weiss.I paint landscapes and write about life. Thanks for reading.This article first appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people