Yelling

I rarely yell, or raise my voice. This self revelation came to me after moving into my house in May. My house is a well constructed row house, separated from its neighbors by thick cinder block walls from ground to roof peak. My neighbors are Asian and middle aged. I think they are Chinese-Americans, but I know it is terribly unfashionable these days to speculate about exact ethnicity. One of the many reasons why Americans are getting more ignorant by the minute. How can you know about cultures other than your own if you cannot go to the source. I digress. Well, my Asian neighbors are rather habitual yellers. I can hear them most often through my kitchen wall. I am grateful I do not understand whatever they are speaking. I can then ignore it, like the sound of a distant engine or a wailing cat. I am aware when this happens that I live in silence for about 75% of my current life. My silence, that is. I do listen to National Public Radio and watch movies. I avoid commercial television, which resembles, in my mind, the ranting of my neighbors. Yelling is a habit, it seems. Like smoking or drinking. And it seems also to be a habit that can morph into addiction easily. I think yelling is harmful as well. How can you listen if you are yelling or surrounded by people who yell all the time? And, if you don't listen, aren't you deaf to the important messages the Universe can convey to the mindful and attentive?