Tuning In
You know that moment when you are intently trying to hear something? A drip, a click, a hum, something just off in the distance. You close your eyes and turn your ear to the source. Still and silent you hone in on a singular sound. All other noises fade away. You are utterly. Simply. Focused.
I wonder why we don’t do that more often with ourselves. Stop and listen to how we feel. Stop and listen for what we desire. Stop and listen to the rhythm and melody of our internal soundtrack, our absolute truth.
Instead, we often run from the silence and from ourselves. We switch on the TV, check our phone for the umpteenth time, grab a snack even though we’re not really hungry. We seek out any distraction we can find. The prospect of being alone with our own thoughts and feelings can seem scary and too much to bear.
We all have reasons for the fear. Of course, I would not even be writing about this if I didn’t have my own big hairy monsters to run from. Though I am perfectly happy to spend time alone, it is not always quiet time. Oh, I can run from quiet with the best of them!
Today we are all aided and abetted in our getaway by technology. I have become aware of how much I turn to my iPhone for answers, looking for something, sometimes frantically. What exactly am I in search of? I have no idea. But maybe my email/facebook/twitter/youtube will have the answer, the remedy, the treasure map to get me from here (dissatisfaction) to there (contentment).
You see the conundrum, right? Anytime we are searching desperately outside ourselves for answers it means we have gotten lost. In fact, if I just put the phone down and let myself “be” I have a much better shot at achieving contentment.
Can you take note of some of the ways you turn to distraction instead of tuning inward? If we become aware of such habits we can find ways to free ourselves from the fear. We can close our eyes and turn our ear to the sound of our own internal drip, click, hum, that seed of truth just off in the distance.
Then we can open up our consciousness more fully to the beautiful people, rhythms and pulse of life all around us, waiting to be seen and heard.
2 Responses to “Tuning In”
wonderful advice encapsulated in beautiful prose! I will work to achieve contentment starting with getting back to my meditation. Mom
I love your mother’s reply. Always full of love.
DM
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