Quiet


I take the subway to and from work.

Last week in the subway I noticed a guy sitting in a two-seater.

The seat next to him was open.

I could have sat down, but I’ve been sitting all day, and so for health reasons I'll stand for the better part of the trip.

The guy pulled out his smartphone and started listening to a music video.

Without headphones.

The music wasn’t that loud, but it was loud enough that I could tell he was listening to a rap song.

I shifted my gaze and looked up to my left at the poster on the wall.

The poster was reminding subway riders to wear headphones if they are listening to music on their smartphones. 

I thought it was ironic that I noticed the poster as I don’t have a smartphone. On the other hand, for the person who it was meant for, he hadn’t noticed the poster (which was inches away) and he was playing music on his smartphone without headphones.

I looked around in the subway car. 

No one else was looking at the poster nor the seated man.

And people missed the irony of the situation.

You can't control the level of noise in the subway.

But you can choose quiet time for yourself.

When I’m writing a LinkedIn post, I like the quiet time to reflect and gather my thoughts.

When I’m walking in the streets of my neighbourhood, it’s a quiet time to notice nature.   

When I’m eating a meal with friends or family, there may be pockets of quiet time, and in those moments I savour the experience of the food and being in the company of loved ones.   


Also Published on LinkedIn on:  May 6, 2017
Image Credit: Pixabay

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comfort Zone

Image
Yesterday I did something that was out of the ordinary for me.   I signed up for an 8 week improv class with the  Bad Dog Theatre Company . The idea for attending such a class was suggested to me when I attended  DisruptHRToronto  (a networking event) where I heard a speaker named Lori Pearlstein on December 1, 2016. Ms. Pearlstein owns a company called  Playworks .  Ms. Pearlstein’s company provides improv classes to corporate clients and helps people to improve their public speaking, team building and brainstorming skills. I thought to myself that improv is something that I would like to try. As is usual with me, I filed the suggestion away in my head perhaps to re-visit in the future. I was talking to a friend of mine and we were talking about food preferences. He noted that I could be more adventurous when it came to food. Point well-taken.    I wrote a LinkedIn post called “ Ham .”...
Read more

Human Nature

Image
Yesterday (June 19th) was very hot and humid in Toronto, and Environment Canada issued a heat alert. Today promises to be another hot and humid day with the humidex expected to rise to 40 degrees Celsius. When it’s hot in Toronto, we wish for winter and cooler weather; and when it’s winter, we wish for summer and warmer weather.  I suppose this wishful thinking of thinking the grass is always greener somewhere else is a part of human nature. When we’re working, we think wouldn’t it be nice if we had more leisure time, and when you’re in transition (like me), you think wouldn’t it be nice if we were working? When I was working at Combined Insurance, that’s all I thought about was work.  Never thought about stopping and reflecting on things.  In transition I’ve seen the other side (the leisure side), and I know that when I find a job, that I’d want more of a balance between working hard and pursuing leisure activities (maybe going to see a Toronto Bl...
Read more

Positivity...Let me count the ways

Image
In a previous post “ Always On My Mind ” I mentioned to job seekers to “stay hopeful and positive.” I would like to expand on how exactly job seekers (or anyone else for that matter) can “stay positive.” First I’m reminded of a  FISH! Philosophy  tenet of “Choose Your Attitude.” We can choose to have a positive attitude in a number of ways. Be nice to yourself   We can’t always feel positive (or up or cheery) all of the time. Sometimes we feel down.  I suggest that we accept that we feel down at this moment and that this feeling won’t last forever. We can think to ourselves that things will feel brighter tomorrow. Give yourself permission to feel down at this moment and take comfort that tomorrow is another day.  We can do some basic things to take care of ourselves: get enough rest, drink lots of water, eat healthy, get some exercise, etc. Other than these things, we can participate in activities that...
Read more