I consider myself a patron of the arts. I’m a member of our local museum. My son, whose 10, does at least two art camps every summer at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. When I have the itch, we go to LA to see more art at the LACMA, MOCA, Hammer and beyond. There is so much incredible art just 90 minutes away.
I’ve felt comfortable and at home in art museums ever since I was a little girl. I’m drawn to the quiet. The shhhhhhhhhhh of the guards when you’ve raised your voice a bit too much. The raised finger to lips in the “quiet” position that everyone knows.
Growing up in DC I was spoiled with the Smithsonian museums as my playground. As soon as we could drive my friends and I would spend the day in the city at a different building (maybe Air and Space or maybe it was an American History kind of day).
All the Smithsonian museums are free. Free. FREE. The Smithsonian houses 154 million artifacts, works of art and specimens in all it’s collections.
It’s the quiet, most of all, that I’m drawn to in museums. It’s my church. The quiet that lets my brain slow down and think. Think. Think more slowly. Gather my thoughts. Then rearrange them. We rarely make time for this in our lives.
If you are seeking out silence, consider swinging by a museum wherever you live (they even have free days) and spend even 20 minutes, I can’t recommend it enough. The quiet. And go a step further and put your phone on airplane mode so you have to be extra quiet. You’ll be amazed at how many great ideas and how clearly you’ll be able to hear yourself think.
In this day and age we always want to listen to another podcast, read another book, take in more information.
I encourage you to seek out the quiet space that is going to allow you to assemble your thoughts and let your own creativity to flow.
If it's not a museum, it could be a hike by yourself, a commute where you don'tlisten to anything, or even just 20 minutes of quiet time in the morning with your cup of tea or coffee.
Think of it as freeing your mind.
I would love to hear your favorite ways of creating your own quiet space in the comments below.