I sit outside with the book Silence In the Age of Noise by Erling Kagge.

Immersed in silence, I hear leaves fall, the tingle of a windchime, and the giggle of a young child pushed on a swing by her dad.  

From the book: I find myself thinking about how silence can be experienced without the use of techniques. The threshold for finding silence and balance can in fact be lowered.  You don’t need a course in silence or relaxation to be able simply to pause.  Silence can be created anywhere, anytime – it’s just in front of your nose.  I create it for myself as I walk up the stairs, prepare food or merely focus on my breathing. Sure, we are all part of the same continent, but the potential wealth of being an island for yourself is something you carry around with you all the time.