I have 3 boys 6 and under so my house is always loud, my job is full of loud yelling people, ambulances, fire trucks, highway traffic, the list goes on.
The only real quiet around the house is right about now as I lay beside my youngest as he falls asleep in his bed. But even then there is the noise of the soundbox and the lullabies station on Pandora.

So one would think whenever I get the chance I would want quiet, NOPE!
My days off and I drop the boys off the music gets cranked up, I am working in the shop it is cranked up, doing work around the house have music rocking.
Not sure why but loud music is comforting. I have tried silence or close to it to help unwind or escape and it just does not work for me.
Quiet is not an escape for some reason.

Oddly enough as of recent my first go to song is either

Escape



Link to original video: https://youtu.be/81UItXM7P9s

Or

My Stress



Link to original video: https://youtu.be/1O1tj2phCQY

Back in the day before the wife and kids I would just hop in the car and drive. Especially when the weather was nice jump in the Mustang roll the windows down or drop the top when I got the convertible.
Back then I had no real responsibilities I’d drive for a couple hours and feel so refreshed.
I’d jump on I-275 around Cincinnati an visit three states on the trip.

Now there is so much that needs to be done to just barely keep up. Music is about the only thing I’ve got while getting done all the things I have to do. But it always seems I finish something and 2 or 3 more things get added to the list.
I finally get something started that has been on the back burner and something more important rears it’s ugly head.

Maybe one day life will slow down, maybe it will quiet down.

Not me. Silence and solitude are treasures beyond price on my planet.

A nice long solo motorcycle ride is about as close as I can come. Certainly not "silent" but at least solitary.

Motorcycling for me too - very therapeutic ...

I try to do one cross country type trip a summer - 2000 + miles over a week to ten days - it is fantastic

On a simpler note, walking my girlfriends 14 year old cocker ( Saulie ) - she loves it and I get a kick out of it.

My escape is my house and the motorcycle. I cherish the silence and peace when I get home from work at night.
The motorcycle is therapy. Even with all the upgrades on it, I tune it out and everything seems to wash away.
Sucks now because I winterized the bike last weekend.

I can go either way. There are times where I can appreciate some peace and quiet; but others where some volume works just as well.

Surprising as it is to many in my circle, since I travel for a living, I don't want to travel that much when I am not working. This can occasionally lead to a tense dynamic at home since my wife doesn't travel and WANTS to get out and about when I am home.

As far as music, surprisingly my tastes have gotten harder and louder as I have gotten older. I was a classic rock guy in high school, but my tastes have become more modern as well. I still have plenty of interest in the pretty much every type except country, but a good dose of shaking the rafters can be very therapeutic.

I love silence. My wife and I are both retired. We spend a few hours each day reading. No noise whether we are in the house in cold weather or on the deck in the summer. It’s heavenly.

Occasionally, I put in my AirPods and listen to some Aaron Copland or similar soft sounds.

I read for a living. I stare at computer screen for 95% of the time I'm at work, reading and crafting contract language.

For my down time, I read. Usually on a screen.

Depends on the mood.

There's times I like the quiet of a lakeside and there's times where a moto ride is just the ticket.

Being on my boat, fishing for salmon, sometimes in super calm water, other times wild ride, really relaxed after that.

I do find myself yawning during an exciting moto ride. It's not from boredom, it's from relaxing. I have heard it said that certain types need a lot of stimulus to actively relax, like an ADD thing. Works for me.

Not surprisingly, my favorite is range time. Even though retirement is much less stressful I always notice how calm I am immediately after shooting.

My wife said the same thing. I guess it’s because I focus all my attention on the process and enjoy it.

I normally go once a week and spend about an hour there.

Spring, Summer and early Fall, I actually enjoy donning my 3M Worktunes headset paired to my music app on my phone, firing up the lawnmower and cutting the grass. In the late fall, I enjoy raking the leaves and burning them.

Complete silence is my relaxation tool. I have driven cross-country all by myself without ever turning the music on. I get up early just so I can eat my breakfast quietly, in peace before my husband gets up. I love to go hiking so I am not bombarded by noise. Last time my husband came hiking with me, he pulled his phone out & started playing music (guess how that turned out?)
!!&#%@)(!!!!!

quote:

Silence and solitude are treasures beyond price on my planet.

+1000

Recoil therapy for me...

Tony.

My therapy comes in the form of recoil or jamming on my electric guitar.

I have 2 "outlets".

One is reading. I think I have a copy of every one of Louis La'Amours books, sometimes 2 copies.

My second outlet is wood turning. I have dozens of bowls of various sizes, a couple dozen more "tea lights", and perhaps 2 dozen what are called natural edge boxes. And probably 30 bottle stoppers of various types.

I had a sales force lined up (wife and neighbor lady) but somehow that didn't get started, then wife and daughter, same ending. Do not GAS, I will keep turning. saves me a lot of stress (except when a work piece turning at 2500 RPM decides to go off on a trip of its own.)

I just go outside and listen to the silence...the occasional airplane but mostly just a few birds chirping and thats it...

quote:

Originally posted by Harleysbluff:
Motorcycling for me too - very therapeutic ...

I remember I used to be able to get rid of a common headache just by going riding on a motocross bike. Kind of counterintuitive as it would be pretty loud even with a helmet. Blasting around on one of these could also could be pretty jarring, but it got rid of headaches. Worked every time.

Now with genuine migraine headaches? No.

Another motorcycling for me as well. Something about country roads on the bike that relaxes me.