Radio Silence, and the end of September

Radio waves
hello goodbye
waves crash
radio laugh
hello goodbye
radio cry

radio silence
off or volume down
nothing to broadcast
nothing in the evening
radio sleeping
not touching the dial

There are times in my life--and I've been faced with by this lately--when I cannot listen to the radio in the car--or to music, audiobooks, or anything.  My mind needs quiet. Certainly yours does too.

I read a biology article a few weeks ago called, "This is Your Brain on Silence."  It says that "two hours of silence per day prompted cell development in the hippocampus region of the brain" (Daniel A. Gross). This part of the brain helps turn your short-term memory into long-term memory.

I haven't been cultivating quiet time in my life because of that article, but reading it helped me feel better about my brief inability to soak up anything else.  I suppose I was feeling overstimulated, or that I, as a sponge, was full. I had to accelerate, had to change momentum, to step up into Fall mode (very busy! homework!) from Summer mode (you know).

I think that changed this weekend.  I had fun! Also, I don't think I went to bed any later than 9:30 for the past few days. Ahhhhhhhh.

On Friday, Ryan and I saw Chickspeare, and we loved it!  We also watched the new episodes of Scandal and Modern Family.  On Saturday I met my dear friend Rachel for breakfast, which was soooo good since I hadn't seen her since she moved to Florida in early 2013.  I cleaned my house, bought groceries, made enchiladas.... tasks all very overdue! On Sunday, Ryan and I saw The Importance of Being Earnest--loved it. I'd read it a couple times, but had never seen it. I was so happy that I could do that.

AND on Thursday my class is seeing a play by Samuel Beckett, so that makes three stage performances in seven days for me! How very strange it is! How very lucky I am! I also feel lucky that we only have to read one play (the one we're seeing) for class this week.  Usually we read about 3 plays and 2 academic articles per week, so this feels like time off.

I should be off to work in a few minutes.  I'll clean up my French toast and cuddle my cats first, though.