Making Sounds

When I was in the middle of my professional crisis, trying to decide whether I should I leave my corporate job in my old life, I had a terrible time sleeping. In fact, that's an understatement...I rarely slept. I would get into bed because I was physically exhausted and my head was pounding but I would just lie there watching the shadows dancing on my ceiling and listening to the lull of the occasional traffic on the street below. I love that white noise of New York City...in the morning it's like we live in a completely different neighborhood with the madness of the cars, trucks and buses and the sound of kids playing in the park eight floors down and on their way to the school next door to our building. But at night, it was just me, the white noise, the light sound of my husband sleeping and the shadows.



Then one day, my husband came home with the life saver...a sound machine. Most people in New York would die for some peace and quiet and we happen to live in a neighborhood where sometimes the only thing you can hear is the sound of your own thoughts racing around in your head. Who knew that a little noise was all I would need to get me back to a sound sleep? The machine has 16 sounds but my favorites are white noise (natch) - it sounds like an air conditioner, rain forest, thunderstorm and ocean. There's something about the sound of water. On our honeymoon in Hawaii our room faced the Pacific Ocean and every night we listened to the waves...and now I had that in our bedroom in Manhattan. I felt like a new person. And it wasn't just that sound help me to sleep for a full night, but it basically shut off all the thoughts in my head - all my thoughts, all my worries.



This Thanksgiving, after family and turkey, we're going out to the beach for the long weekend. I know I've written about my fascination with the ocean before but there's something about the beach in winter. The quiet, the possibilities, the cold, the loneliness - we like to sit in the car and watch the waves. I love those afternoons...I feel like we are the only two people in the world and like anything is possible.





Today's Soundtrack:
Bloc Party - Tulips

PS--Head over to one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITE BLOGS - The Rockstar Diaries - to sign up for a giveaway of one of my prints!! A few months ago Naomi and I did a giveaway and over 700 people signed up! Wowsa! Head over there for a chance to win. xx

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