The Signal Beneath the Noise
We’re inundated with information, but very little meaning. From the infinite pings on our phones, to TV sets droning on in the background, to our subconscious habit of picking up our phone and hitting the same apps in order, our mind, both consciously and unconsciously, is constantly drowning in shallow information.
The mind, if not intentionally directed, becomes a scavenger—picking up scraps of whatever’s loudest. You find yourself completely overstimulated by 5:45pm because of the incessant and ever present sensations around you while you move into the backend part of your day (aka, the second shift). The dog’s nails clicking on the floor. The sound of the referee blowing their whistles, shoes loudly squeaking against the court, and the hollers and chants of the crowd from the NBA playoff game your husband is watching. The sound of your kids dumping out all of the toys from the bin (and the flash of knowing that you’ll have to help clean it up later). The steady barrage of mental reminders going off in your head about who you need to text back, the thing you need to add to the grocery order, the trying to remember if the library book is due today or tomorrow. So many things fighting for your attention at once, none of which is particularly meaningful nor cup-filling, but is a necessary part of life nonetheless.
At times, it feels like this is all there is. But, in actuality, this sense of drowning in the noisy mundane is simply the reflection of our disconnection from what’s really going on internally. Beneath the noise of the outside world and of the inside world that’s closest to the surface. Somewhere in there is a signal. And what if we practiced tuning to signal instead of chasing noise?
The signal is quiet.
It’s the phrase that you heard that made your chest ache with deep resonance.
It’s the question or wondering rooted in a simple yet profound curiosity that won't let go.
It's the idea that flickers in your periphery when you give yourself permission to stop performing “being informed.”
This space is not for hot takes. It’s for slow-burning signals—the ones that emerge only when you're willing to sit in the quiet and ask: What wants to be known here?
So, how do you get there? Especially amidst the predictable yet still chaotic drum of daily life? The answer is simple, but that doesn’t make it easy. Slow down. Stop being busy just for the sake of being busy. Then, when you catch the essence of that signal, follow it. Give yourself permission to go down a rabbit hole just for the hell of it. The whispers from your highest self are echoing around you from the walls of those rabbit holes. Reach for her the same way she’s reaching for you, and before you know it, you’ll come tumbling out the other side of the rabbit hole with a profound appreciation for the mundane chaos of this existence.