Silence is easy

The Boy is away on a stag do this weekend and I've set myself a little task today - to go a whole day without speaking to anyone. I can't remember the last time I had a day completely to myself, to use at whim just to indulge myself - and so far I'm loving it.

The majority of my life is surrounded by noise - and for the most part I love it. I work in a busy press office in a small communications team full of loud and passionate characters; the Boy and I have a wide social circle and we enjoy nights out at gigs and the theatre; and both my family and the Boy's are colourful people full of joie de vivre which they enjoy expressing. And I love this. In fact, so used am I to 'surround sound', that I used to be very nervous of time spent alone with no distractions from those close to me.

But now I am (finally!) happy in my own skin and comfortable with my lot, time to myself is to be cherished - and turning off the phone and Blackberry, and shutting the door on the world once in a while, feels like a real treat.

This morning I woke early, but took time to read a new book in bed while the daylight slowly and silently crept in through the blinds to join me in the bedroom. I enjoyed leaning my cheek on the cold side of the pillow, lost in the words of my latest author with no interruption. After that I thumbed through a couple of reference books I'd dug out and been meaning to look at for a while, and then I took nearly an hour to give myself a manicure and pedicure - the red of the polish the only loud part of the morning.

I've indulged myself in a couple of films that have been quietly lurking on our Sky Plus for a while - films that have tempted me but not been the Boy's cup of tea, and also watched old episodes of two of my favourite shows, Lewis and Midsomer Murders. I must confess to something of a detective story fetish. As a teenager while most of my contemporaries were clamouring for the latest copies of Just 17 and 19 magazine, I was intoxicated by the adventures of the terrific trio of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.

But... I digress. The point is I have thoroughly enjoyed a break from the routine from the quiet sanctuary of my sofa. Being left alone with my thoughts and on my own timescale has been a real joy. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to do this every day, and I adore my 'noisy' life with the Boy - but today, silence really has been golden.