The Sleeping Radio
One rainy evening, I thought it might be a good idea to get to bed early, as I had been missing some sleep for the previous few nights, and felt the need to catch up on it a little.
However, there was a thumping noise coming in through the bedroom window, apparently caused by a flower pot or something that had been left where the rainwater drips down from the roof. A family member sometimes works on their plants – re-potting them and moving them, and there had been times in the past when I had to go outside on a rainy night, and move a few potted plants to stop the noise of the water dripping down on them.
But this time, I was not able to locate the exact source of the sound. So I went back inside, where the sound of the water drips thumped through the window, like someone tapping on a bongo drum. I could hear it even when I wore earplugs, and also tried to bunch up a blanket by my ears – it was somewhat muffled, but still enough to keep me awake. Thump-thump-thump, Tap-tap-tap… the rhythmic sound of “water torture”.
Then I remembered hearing someone say that the sound of the static between stations on an FM radio can be used as a means of relaxation or meditation. I might not have been so impressed with this claim, but I did want to catch up on some sleep that night, and my attempts to shut out the sounds were not working. So I took out an old table radio that I had not used in a long time, plugged it in, and tuned to an empty spot on the FM dial. Then I adjusted the tone control to minimize the treble sounds, and turned up the volume to where the rushing sound was perhaps at the level of a table fan. (I still had the earplugs in, so that is an estimate.)
Then I got in bed, and closed my eyes, curious to see how this would work out. The sound of the FM static somewhat reminded me of rushing water, and it seemed that I was able to focus in on it, and it lulled me off to sleep. I ended up sleeping pretty well that night!
The next evening, although it was not raining, I was curious to see how things would work out if I repeated the “experiment” of having the radio on again, not tuned to any station, and just making the rushing noise. And again it seemed to lull me off to sleep rather quickly. I did the same thing yet again the next night, with the same kind of results.
It seems that I had stumbled upon a way to use the radio as a kind of “electronic lullaby” – by playing it when is wasn’t even tuned to a station. Seem crazy? It did seem to work, at least for me…
NOTES: In this context, it turns out that the interstation FM radio static is like a form of “White Noise”. And turning down the treble may have the effect of turning it into a form of “Pink Noise”. Apparently, the white noise serves to distract the mind from the rhythmic transient tapping noise of the dripping water, making it possible to fall asleep. (To learn more about White Noise and Pink Noise, and about White Noise Machines – Click Here.)
The Sleeping Radio