MyTimeToBlog
If you ever lived in a metropolis, you know noise. The kind that would have you drowning it out with music, or slamming the window shut. Well, I can't do that, sadly. Prison can be as loud as a jet's engine soaring overhead. So what can be done? Pretty much you just adapt.
I remember my first night in prison. It wasn't like Shawshank Redemption. If you don't know what I mean, watch that classic movie, then come back and read on. Anyway, being in a cell, everything comes alive. The water dripping from the leaky faucet. The toilets being flushed periodically throughout the night. TVs being played too loud. Snores--my word, the snores can drive you batshit crazy. To find sleep becomes impossible, so you live in your thoughts, catching micro naps until the world (prison) comes alive again.
Truthfully, you can't think straight, because the noises were continuous. Men shouting while they play cards. Guys yelling through the cell door. Even men using the crapper, asking for things. You hear it all. So what can you do? I'm smiling, because I'm in the day room typing away, oblivious to the noises now.
Think about it this way: a bomb goes off daily. The first time it occurs to you, you're scared out of your mind. The second time, you're a bit startled. The following week you pay it no mind. You become comfortable with it. Crazy, but I'm telling the truth. I focus on my world, choosing to live in my head, rather than what goes on around me.
Now I'll be truthful, I've missed out on many things transpiring around me. That's my focus. Even as it is, I'm still training myself to be aware of my surroundings. Again, I'm in prison, and insane crap can pop up out of nowhere. That's why I sit around my friends, making sure I'm OK. Funny, I'm thinking about when I was at Augusta Correction Center, I had Huggie (a gang member) and Kevin (a Christian) on opposite sides of me.
We were a trio. Huggie listened to music all day. I wrote my novels, and Kevin read his books. We had each other's back. I miss them. They're gone now, and what I have around me now are good men, but even as I do, the noises are replaced by my thoughts on what I can share with you.
I love writing. I love it so much that with a big-screen TV playing Horizon Chapter 1, I'm in my zone. Now mind you, I love westerns. They're one of my favorite movies to watch, especially with Kevin Costner at the helm; if you haven't seen Open Range, please check it out.
I can sit quietly in chaos. It's a unique skill set, and as such, I use it wisely. Now what about you: how do you tune out the noise? Is it easy for you? If the answer is no, then practice. Like they said, "The only way to get to Broadway is practice, practice, practice." It took me years to sit and concentrate in the day room with numerous men making noises...but now, I just wrote this while in the midst of it on a Friday night.