Noise relaxes me. I say noise instead of just music, but it’s not always music. More often than not it’s a random action repeated over and over live, I guess. Instead of recorded.

For example, one time I heard someone cutting paper with scissors. Nothing special, just a person doing a mundane task. But the sound of those scissors going through that paper instantly relaxed me. Slice and then clip, Slice…clip, Slice…clip. Its as though my ears blocked out all of the traffic, finally settling on just one. I could have sat there all day listening to those scissors.

It could be how someone chews their gum or leaves crunching under my shoes. It could be the sounds of a vacuum or wind whistling through trees. Or, in my latest youtube obsession, the sound of cooking utensils being moved about while making various recipes.

But it happens a lot. And in the weirdest of places.

Like on our way home from visiting my brother: a woman was reading a book, circling phrases and words that she wanted to remember. First, it was the calm movement of her hands that caught my eye.

Yes, I am the weirdo taking photos of a random woman’s hands.

But then I heard it. The scratchy sound of pencil on paper, followed by an occasional erase and then finally a swipe of the shavings. I almost asked R to change seats, just so I could close my eyes and let the sound envelope me.

Does that ever happen to you? Or am I alone in this secret world of noises.