Music is my muse; Silence is my style

Music is my muse; Silence is my style

Growing up I was lucky enough to have both my grandmothers in my life. Both women were always home, but that is where ALL similarities ended. One thing I think about when I think about my grandmothers is that my mother's mother would spend her entire day alone in her house in silence. (And still does) There is never a radio on and the TV doesn't come on until Jeopardy.  My father's mother, on the other hand, never ever turned her TV off! It ran almost 24/7.

I laugh when my mother says she has the TV on for noise. I get that. When I'm folding laundry I turn on NCIS for the noise. But when I work...there is silence.

People ask me all the time how I can work with 5 sons running a muck. Somewhere I have learned to tune out the chaos and get my writing done. But when they are at school, and I have the house to myself...there is silence.

I don't listen to a radio, iTunes, Pandora...you name it. There is no TV on for noise. I can sit at my computer for six straight hours and not have another sound, but the sounds I make. (I do admit to having conversations. What good writer doesn't?)

Now, that's not to say music isn't important. When I run I notice that if a certain song comes on I run faster or I slow down. Very powerful. And in the car...I can't stand to have it quiet (most the time.) Music feeds me. I've written more than one book off of no more than ten words in a song. I don't write the book off of the meaning of the song, but the words spark something. Yes, I wrote a whole book off of a line that talked about tapping the brakes to show the tail lights!

So, music is very important in my life. I live it, I breathe it, I enjoy it. But when it comes to working...silence is my style.

What's your style?