Serenity

While the temperature continues to climb up, I decided to sit on the outdoor patio at Spoke & Bird in the South Loop. Suddenly and briefly, I noticed something…silence. Chicago, I think you’re on mute? We can get consumed in the everyday city noise that we almost forget the existence of silence. The serenity that it brings. Personally, it’s one of my love languages. Yep–silence! Hanging with my favorite people and not having to constantly fill the space with endless verbs and nouns but rather to enjoy each other’s space and time. What can I say, it’s the introvert in me. As this tree-filled patio gets a little more crowded, it may possibly be the introvert in a few others as I notice them sitting and enjoying each other’s presence.

Noise can be a distraction. Along with silence being a love language of mine, it serves as a reminder to cancel the noise sometimes. From halting the rampant thoughts in my mind to literally turning off the TV/music to disengaging with the overwhelming expectations and opinions from others. Life can get noisy as it is especially with living in the city! Now I will say that I use noise as a distraction when needed, especially while mopping rather than thinking about how much I dislike mopping. Aretha is a perfect "distraction". In another regard, listening to someone complain about the stress and financial burden of going to school can possibly be discouraging or "distracting" me from pursuing my goals of achieving my degree. Time to cancel the noise and exit stage left! Or at least re-route that conversation a little bit to find the light in it.

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Noise can be a blessing. A home filled with family and friends is something money cannot buy. One of my favorite childhood memories took place in one of my uncle’s home on an extremely memorable night. It was Easter Sunday, my uncle’s birthday, and the night of one of the last NBA games of the ‘97-98 season. All of the adults were in the big living room watching the game while all of the kids/teens were in the back room also watching the game. With multiple trips to the food table and the game winding up in overtime, the night grew intense. After the winning shot, grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, friends cheered, clapped, and ran around the entire house! You would’ve thought that we were watching Game 7! The Chicago Bulls made it into the Finals and took the championship that year.

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If I hadn’t mentioned it, I love silence just as much as I love gatherings with family and friends. The serenity in both is my favorite aspect. My goddaughter’s name is Serenity. And for that bright, beautiful 6 year old, it’s a fitting name. That’s all for now. The brief silence out here has been filled again with honking cars, a baby’s cry, and pure laughter.

Ciao

Kemi