According to CS Lewis, music and silence are never to be found in Hell.

Noise (and music can be used as noise) is a fundamental expression: an articulation in sound, that signifies nothing more or less that one exists.

For those of us whose sense of individuated, secure self is under attack - and under the conditions of urbanisation and mass media, this is a great many of us - there can be an urge to make some noise, as naturally as a bird sings to assert its territory. For those of us with a history of being ignored, silence can feel like an unbearable threat.

But, our addiction comes at an awful price: our best, realest and most beautiful thoughts and feelings are, often, devastatingly vulnerable and fleeting. Noise can squash them out of consciousness entirely.

If we are to stand any chance of encountering our real selves, we must face what may once have felt like a terror. It takes maturity to hush and reassure the desperate child in us, and to embrace silence.