muted worlds

When it is siesta in the dormitories, we tiptoe around. We are required to tone down our voices, and turn down the volume of our radios which normally blast out our musical angst. We should. Otherwise, the girls from the other rooms will pound on our doors for all they're worth. After all, they can hear our cacophony through the screens on the upper walls separating our rooms.

Once I was in my room during siesta listening to silence when I realized that there comes a time in our lives when we are surrounded by so much noise we barely notice it's there - from th chorus of car honks on the street to sirens buzzing in our ears. We are used to noise. We thrive in it. Or maybe I am just weird and just view noise differently.

Noise is distraction, isn't it? An example would be the noise of love - the inner mental torments it causes, or, if you are lucky, coming in as the deafening pounding of your heart. It's also the noise of ambition - the never-ending screams of your brain as you paddle your way to success and then you become deaf to what is going on around you. These are "noises," because they distract us from life.

Imagine yourself living in a muted world. Teachers will go crazy talking in front of us while we don't hear a thing; we just stare. We will live in our own little corner of the world and, as a result, see things differently.

Maybe, as all interesting ideas go, a muted world is not just the point. I have to admit if that would happen, we would lose more than what we would gain. But instead, from noise, we'd move towards a new concept to look at things in a different light, like slowing down once in a while to admire the blessing we've been given. Because, this time, it is all about feeling. We get to leave behind the world for a while and make do with our own corner of it. We delight the soul within us.

An Oriental proverb goes, " Don't be afraid of going slowly, be afraid of standing still,." But what I've noticed now, especially here in Silliman, that sometimes people are too busy surviving life. We're always off in a rush. We're not walking slowly, and we can never stand still.

Past circumstances have taught us to achieve what we can to make it in this competitive world. What we, the youth, see now is the manifestation of lives wasted on nothing. We become scared that "nothing" will happen to us. This is for all that see life as days and nights that pass by, who measure existence through clocks and schedules. This is for those who never seem to slow down, always rushing, always running after something, sometimes they can't even see themselves.

This is for me too.

Sometimes, it is too easy to get caught up in distractions, in the noises of life. But sooner or later, this burns us out. As students in Silliman we should never forget that the Silliman Spirit comes from the "atmosphere" we ourselves create. We should not forget that real success comes from living a happy life. That's hard to do, but is definitely worth it. Instead of rushing though our days, we should go slowly once in a while. After all, happiness cannot be found at the end of the road. It's found in the journey as you travel through life.