I’m leaving the Beacon soon, and to this point I have confined my comments to matters directly pertaining to some aspect of the realm of entertainment as I see it. I have taken up the task of trying to knowledgeably comment upon the field as its advocate — either by criticism of its failures or acknowledgment of its power for good, so that the spectrum as a whole may be better. I have tried to lead students to the best Knoxville has to offer and to engage minds about the proper use of entertainment and media.

Now we have respite. We have rest from work for a few days. We have Thanksgiving. I am not a great philosopher or a student who can claim expertise in anything, but I have learned a hard lesson that does not lend itself to precise description, so I will do my best to impart it.

I call it “noise.” It is a constant barrage of sensation, often artificial, that we have access to constantly in the modern world. You can plug in your iPod as you walk to class, tune into what your professor is saying and then lapse out again. You can drive home listening to the radio or music from your 5-CD changer, then turn on the TV while you do house work. Bored? You can rent a movie. Hungry? Watch TV or go out with friends while you eat. We can play video games and confine ourselves to dorm rooms for a good portion of our college hours. We can browse the web and spend time watching flash cartoons or funny videos on Google. We talk over IM, write a paper and listen to music all at once. We work and we talk on the phone and we drive and we eat and we shower.

“Noise.” We are rarely quiet; we are rarely at peace. And though I myself am not a fan of many of America’s corporate holidays, I must see the bright side of Thanksgiving. We can sit around the table and mention the people and things we’re thankful for, and we do a good thing. But we fall far short of our potential if that is all we do.

For some time now, I have tried to make it a point to quiet myself every morning for a time. I call it my quiet time. It is a break from the background “noise” of my busy modern life. If we are hiding something ugly inside ourselves, we should be careful about this exercise, because whatever we are fearing or holding onto inside will meet us face to face in these moments. That’s a good thing, because uglies grow if left unfaced.

“Noise” has a way of making us forget what is most important to our souls. All day we lick icing and never take a bite of cake, and it makes us sick. All day we rub on makeup but don’t look in the mirror, and it makes us ugly.

I’m not condemning media, but I am advocating restrain and thoughtfulness. I get great insights about life from movies and even video games. But feeding myself “noise” all day without a time of reflection about who I am and what I am doing with my life and whom I am serving is sure to cause problems. I am apt to live vicariously in fantasy worlds, loving its dynamic but never considering my own dynamic in the real world of life, as it occurs on life’s terms. Escapism has its appeal, but to look the world in its eye and dive head-first into the adventure of living and making a difference in this world is not a thing to be missed. Because though we submerge ourselves in “noise,” we can scarcely escape the real world.

So I look at this Thanksgiving as a time to sit quietly and just be. I look at this Thanksgiving as a time to refocus on what’s important: relationships, dreams for the future, my own health and well-being and the well-being of those I care for.

And taking time to list and analyze the things we appreciate has the power to save us from the discontent of knowing what we want but don’t have. In Eric Tyson’s “Personal Finance for Dummies,” he suggests making a regular list of things we have that we enjoy, be it our books, our TV, our still-functioning computer, our dogs or cat or our winter coat. The exercise is designed to curb spending. What are we really lacking? It helps people save money.

My point is this: We rarely see completely free time, or down-time as a commodity of value, but it, like water, is an absolute necessity for our enjoyment of life. Don’t fill your Thanksgiving break with more hustle and bustle, more running around pursuing one thing after another. Sit still and have quiet.

Quietness, emptiness is as much a thing to seek as the entertainment with which we try to be excited and full, and it may well be better for us. Do not try to be all one and not the other, for our brains are meant to be engaged and still, for different purposes. Together, they are like eating chocolate and drinking milk. They work in a rotation better than they could if one were done constantly without the other. What would life be if we were always plugged in to the distracting stimulus of some type of media? Yet that is often what our actions make us think we would like.

I would pay for hours and days of quietness, when nothing was pressing on me. We tend not to value things that are free. But free time is like air. Hiking is free, healthy and incredibly enjoyable. Taking a hot bath costs only a little on the water and electricity bill. Reading a book may engage you in relaxation for 15 hours, yet costs only a little per hour when you break down the cost. Talking with friends, they won’t give you a receipt, but you take something valuable from their company. Making a list of things you have that you appreciate, as well as a list of things you are thankful for won’t cost you anything, but it may be more effective than buying a financial counselor or a psychiatrist to get your life working as it should be.

Be quiet. Be thankful for what you have. Stop wanting. Stop thrashing in ambition and desire for the future. Be. Look into the stream of your soul and see what is there. Who are you? What is your purpose? What do you live for? Whom do you serve? What is your higher calling?