What Are The Sound Effects Of Your Life?
Hear me out on this one. If you compiled a list of the sound effects of your life, what would be included? Too big a list? Let’s try a day, maybe it’s this day. What are the significant sounds?
My list would look something like this:
The splutter of the coffee maker spitting out the last bits of heated water through the filter cup.
The click of the mouse as I move my cursor across the computer screen.
The clack of the keyboard keys as I type.
The drum of the water as it hits the floor of the shower as I freshen up for the day.
My spouse coughing. (Reminder: Call ENT for his appointment).
The swoosh sound of shifting canvas as I shove things into my backpack.
The crackle of my feet walking across the icy sheet on my driveway.
The bing, bing, bing chirp of my phone when I get a message or alert.
The crinkle of pages of a children’s book turned over-and-over-again each time my grandson shouts “Read, read, read!”
The murmur of voices as I step into the restaurant.
The thump and hum of the furnace as it switches on.
The creek of the floors as I walk from one room to the next in my 100+ year old house.
It’s a short list meant to give you an idea of how overlooked but enriching sounds are to our experiences of the moment. Would the car door feel as “secure” if it weren’t for the whack of metal and rubber slamming into place when we close it?
And think about washing the dishes. Isn’t it soothing to hear the flip and swish of soapy water in motion when sponging an item clean?
MOVIE SOUND EFFECTS VERSUS REAL LIFE SOUND
As a movie fan, I often get caught up in some of the tiny movie moments, in part because of sound effects. For example, I enjoy the movie Julie & Julia, which I’ve watched numerous times. I especially love the scene where characters Julie and Eric Powell are in conversation about the day, and Julie is preparing Bruschetta.
We watch as she fries the slices of French bread in the skillet and hear the clunk as she flips each crisped piece in the pan. We catch the flashes of color and hear the knife tap on the cutting board as she strikes through multi-colored peppers and ripe red tomatoes.
And then the final bit is the crunch of bites as both characters dive in to eat the warm Bruschetta with sips of rich red wine from glasses after a ravenous bite. The scene is beautiful and made more so by the sound effects.
I contend that our life sound effects provide a rich aesthetic to our life experience, one that would be missed if we didn’t have an ability to register soundwaves.
IS THERE SOUND WITHOUT YOU?
You’ve probably heard the query, “If a tree falls and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” This was a premise and phrase made famous by philosopher George Berkeley involving the concept of reality and human perception of it. I’m no philosopher, so that is my layman’s recollection of the concept.
I took an introductory philosophy course in college, and each day I came out with a rudimentary understanding of some philosopher’s take on reality and unreality, and realized two things about myself:
1. My bandwidth for conceptual thinking is limited
2. I’m extremely gullible to reasoned opinions
I say this humbly noting that even with a limited understanding of philosophy I do think our capacity to hear impacts our life and perception. If you’ve got most or all of your senses intact, it could be enriching to note how helpful they are in expanding your life experience.
If you want to explore this philosophical vain a bit more, I recommend reading John Hydrisko’s lovely piece, “If A Tree Falls: Unperceived Reality versus Perceived Unreality,” and take a crack at walking through the concept while in the woods with John.
But for now, focus in on the sound effects around you and think about your list. Stop, pause and listen to your life. How does what you hear impact what you think?
To think and tell about other life stories, check out our Tell Me Another Game. Enjoy great conversations with the help of life storytelling.
Alexandra and Sherry, 2016
Sherry is the founder of Storied Gifts a personal publishing service of family and company histories. She and her team help clients curate and craft their stories into books. When not writing or interviewing, Sherry spends loads of time with her grandchildren and lives in Des Moines, Iowa.
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