Eric Tapley

I’ve just returned home from a long evening walk. Here on the East Coast of the United States, at this time in September, that means it’s dark. And, given that I walked through a park and the woods, it was eerily quiet.

Life isn’t usually quiet or dark - especially quiet. There’s traffic, TV, the phone, customers, co-workers, meetings, babies, etc., all making noise (be it foreground or background). My walk was different, it was quiet. I could hear wind in the trees. I could hear acorns falling through leaves to the ground. I could hear fish jumping in a nearby pond.

I freaked out. I’m sure the darkness had something to do with it.

The world around us isn’t quiet or dark, especially in cities and populated areas. It’s almost as if the entire history of the human race has been moving away from quiet and dark and towards loud and lighted.

If you get a chance you should try quiet and dark. I think it has potential and is vastly underrated, if unusual and uncomfortable.