Can you hear me?
--
How window shopping spun me into a mini-crisis
I recently came across this book title whilst shopping for a friends birthday gift. I was adamant about finding her a book called Silence in the age of noise.
This book had followed me around the globe.
I saw it at the airport in Hong Kong
It saw me at a book fair in Brooklyn
I saw it again in Piccadilly Circus
We finally greeted each other at the Strand book shop
After getting acquainted I hid for a few days
This book helped me question my relationship with noise and information consumption. I started to enjoy sounds more.
- Birds talk a lot of shit in the morning
- Dogs argue a lot about who should pee on what pole
- Microwaves scream in pain when they cook your rice
- Doors sing songs when they squeak to inform the other doors someone is coming into the belly of the building
I wanted to get this for my friend who is struggling with building a better relationship with the noise around her.
On my way to find this book, I found two things.
- A dyslexic shopping for a book is a real-life short film horror movie
- Everyone browsing for books was wearing the same type of expression on their face; like they just stepped in shit and forgot their sunglass at home on a sunny day
I then saw it!
Outraged: Why Everyone is Shouting and No One is Talking
I saw this book and I could not stop re-reading the title. I understood the words but they did not digest well; like trying a new cocktail but there is too much ice to understand if it tastes good.
I think I just read the book without even opening it.
- What is the difference between shouting and talking?
- Are we listening or pretending?
- Why do we speak?
- Do you need to speak to be heard?
I will never read that book because I don’t want to know the answer I want to experience it.