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Get near the loud. That one little phrase challenged my whole approach to life.

The demand hails from the back-page article, Enjoy the Silence, from the May/June issue of SPIN Magazine. (Yes, I still read paper magazines and buy CDs. From CD stores.) And who, but understated and unassuming comedian, Patton Oswalt (of Comedy Central Roast fame), could encourage such existential thinking?

In the article, Oswalt walks us through his most memorable live rock show experiences as an impressionable youth, then wakes us up to face his harsh reality of growing old. He reminisces and describes how that first strum of the electric guitar catapulted him into “…the sonic blitzkrieg at a time when you’re fueled more by hormones and less by bemused self-deprecation.” Then, follows up with the subtle challenge that woke me up: “You’re young? Get near the loud.”

I can remember my first rock show and feeling just as equally fearful of the sonic boom reverberating out of the speakers as I was drawn to it. I guess I needed a gentle reminder of that to truly appreciate it — you first have to live it, and I’m not done living it. So, I accept his challenge and agree to adopt it as my new approach to all things personal and professional. Especially in social media.

The curtains have been drawn back to fully expose this once sub-culture of consumers initially born from behind dorm room walls and back-stage pre-gig. And although it has become just another means to communicate for the masses, social media remains this ever-changing, scary and exciting world that is still just as equally fear-inducing as it is alluring when you click “share.” Sharing: sweet silence’s opposition.

So in short, in terms of social media and life in general, there’s plenty of time to grab the ear plugs, drown out the noise and enjoy the silence, but not now. Now, it’s time to get near the loud.