Your Inner Sound – A Force for Change
For regardless of the nature and size of our gifts, we are always holding off the storm of the world to hear the music that runs through everything. – Mark Nepo
I invite you amidst the chaos of your day, right now, to take a very brief moment to do something we almost never do – pause. Take a deep breath in and let out a long exhale. Now tune into yourself. Shift your focus from what you are seeing in front of you, to what you are experiencing inside of you. As you tune in deeper, you may start to notice the noisiness inside.
There is the chorus of voices that run wild in our minds. Know it or not, these voices are loud and often rule our life experience. It sounds crazy, but just pause a moment, and you know it to be true. At least one of those voices perhaps has already become active within you as you read this blog entry.
Some of the voices we hear are echoes of people from our past, who as well-meaning caretakers, implanted ideals, stories, beliefs, and ways of making meaning into us to help us survive and thrive in the world. Some of the voices we hear are echoes of people from the present, who as people that we admire or follow, do the same through artful influence and persuasion. Or, they are from people close to us who need us to play certain roles designed to help them fill their needs. And, some of the voices we hear are echoes of people who are unconscious of their own fears, and therefore spread fear into us as well.
And then there are the currents running through us. Songs or musical passages that pop in our heads – maybe one we recently heard, maybe a favorite, or maybe one that came out of nowhere. Sudden images that vividly capture our mental energy for a period – such as a favorite vacation spot, the faces of people from a gathering, or something burned on our brain that we saw long ago. Sensations we may feel in our bodies: tension, pain, pounding heart – sometimes intense, sometimes subtle.
Finally, you may also notice an incessant rambling of stories that elaborately play out as your mind wanders. Maybe the story is associated with a recent interaction you had with someone, and now you are convinced of a reality that was not directly communicated. Maybe the story is about how your boss or co-worker is out to get you or make your life miserable in some way. Or maybe the story is about how the world is collapsing around you as we all try to make our way through the current health crisis.
When experienced together, this arsenal of voices, currents, images, sensations, and stories shape our lives every day. And, most often, this leads us to live a life ruled by chronic states of stress. We are all living that in a big way, more than ever, and often do not know why. So, we race from thing to thing, task to task, and play roles that we think we need to play without consciously tuning into what gives us life.
Now take another moment and pause again. Take another deep breath in, and a long, loud exhale out. Wade through the noise inside and tune in deeper… to a place of stillness and quiet (as close as you can manage in this sitting – that is enough!). Take a longer pause if you want, and a few deeper, longer breaths as you clear through the noise. As you travel closer to this place of quiet stillness, you may notice different sounds. Pay attention to those sounds that bring you a sense of calm, warmth, and/or joy. Don’t distract yourself by thinking too much about what comes to you… just notice what does and take it in for a moment.
These moments of calm, warmth, and joy are important cues for you. They are indicators of something that is unique and special within you that is wanting to emerge. These are signals of your creative potential… your unique purpose in this life. As we tune into this deeper sense of creative flow, we are beginning to nurture our inner sounds that run through us from a greater source. God, Jesus, Universe, Buddha, Source, Chi, the Force, Destiny… whatever your belief… there is something that is greater and more spacious than us that runs through us in THIS lifetime.
As the world continues to experience crisis and conflict, and the noises inside of you continue their merciless assault, I invite you to pause, breathe, let go, and tune into your inner sound. You will experience fear as you come closer to your true nature, hidden beneath the layers we build over our lifetime to protect ourselves. But the world needs what you are meant to be and to be courageous in your pursuit of your unique truth. This is how love, wisdom, and beauty emerge as the predominant global currency. It all begins with you and that one simple pause.