“Somebody stole my car radio, and now I just sit in silence.”

I’ve recently become obsessed with Twenty One Pilots, and I listen to them on repeat now a little more than I’d like to admit. The other day, those lyrics struck me. In a commentary track, the lead singer Tyler Joseph explains that once, his car radio was stolen, and his car rides were no longer filled with distraction. The silent drives left him with nothing to do but think. How wonderful would it be if people today took time to sit in silence and think?

We live in a culture full of distractions. We throw our problems aside and occupy ourselves with noise. Instead of confronting our issues and asking hard questions, we take the easy way out and avoid thinking. I’m not saying that turning off your radio will magically make you the next great thinker, but I do believe that it’s a step in the right direction. When I get in the car, the first thing I do is turn on the radio. In fact, I usually don’t even have to turn it on since I didn’t turn it off last time I got out of the car. I’m familiar with the radio DJ’s voices, and I know all of the latest songs by heart since the radio has no respect for how often a song should be played. I sit in the car, barely thinking about driving, spacing out until I get to where I’m going.

I really try not to, but I have also been known to text-- or snapchat, or facebook, or check the weather, or check my bank account-- nd drive. Granted, it’s almost always at a traffic light, but I’m still breaking the law. I know I’m not the only one who does it, either. Why do we do this? Well, I think it’s the same reason we never turn off the radio. We want to be distracted. We want to think about something mindless. We don’t want to be left alone with our thoughts, for fear of where they might take us. I watched a video about texting a driving recently and it inspired me to follow the law more closely. Sitting at traffic lights has suddenly become torture. My phone sits next to me, dark, and I rest my chin on my hand and tap my fingers, trying not to think to hard. It scares me that we’ve gotten into this habit of avoiding thought.

I know we’re all told to leave our phones alone while we drive because it’s unsafe to take your eyes off the road, but I think there’s another very good reason not to text and drive. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very dangerous to be distracted by your phone while driving, and I don’t want to belittle the importance of following that particular law, but our culture suffers more damage-- addiction even-- that isn’t physical from this problem. We live in a world where thinking has become a low priority, and we believe whatever we’re told to believe. Obviously, listening to music in the car isn’t the root of this problem, but I’m definitely scratching the surface of something significant here.

I’m probably not going to stop listening to music in the car, and I don’t expect you to, either. What I do suggest, though, is sitting in silence every now and then, and laying in bed before you go to sleep doesn’t count. You don’t need to meditate for an extended period of time or anything, just take time to think. Think before you speak, think about others, think through your emotions. You owe it to yourself and others. If turning off your car radio is the only way to make it happen, then turn off your car radio. It doesn’t matter how, just stop distracting yourself during every waking moment, and I don’t think you’ll regret it.