I wish I could capture the intensity of loud noise right now in my garden for you to hear too!
No it isn’t the sound of workmen with drills outside in the street, or even a neighbouring gardener mowing the lawn nearby. Nothing quite so normal. I’m actually being ‘deafened’ by the noisy quarrelling of sparrows.
As you know (I mention it often) I absolutely adore birdsong, and part of my daily morning spiritual practice is to be mindful of the sounds of the birds in my garden as I start the day. Here, as I sit writing this blog in the glorious sunshine of mid May, I’m momentarily surrounded by the same band of little garden mates, yet it isn’t the slightest bit musical, harmonious or pleasing to the soul. I’m being observed by a wood pigeon in the tree who clearly agrees with me as he tries to preen himself and finds his peace disturbed.
The reason for mentioning all this is that I’m noticing the sensations within my body. Slight tension in my chest and a shallowness of breathing, clearly caused as a reaction to the disharmony. Luckily these are not human voices arguing and shouting at one another or I might find myself feeling extremely stressed and uncomfortable, repeating patterns of old in a physical response that we all experience from time to time.
Isn’t it interesting how we react at the dis-harmony of arguments, even within family dynamics of the tiny sparrows? It made me think of how upset I used to be as a small child when I heard adults raising their voices at one another, never quite certain that it would be ok and calm down, or escalate into something more terrifying, something extremely unsafe. Yet as a teenager living alone in London I was much braver and by the time I became a student nurse would step in between arguing youths in the street and supplementing my meagre salary as a bar-maid have even been known to try to prevent a fight – even a pub brawl – at all costs. I’m not sure I’d do that now several decades on.
Primitive man when stimulated by fear would flee, fight, or freeze. He would run to save his skin, kill to eat or be killed in the process. Millions of years later this physical response hasn’t changed much even though we are no longer threatened by the ‘sabre-toothed’ tiger’. Even when we don’t need to run or fight for our life. the hormone Adrenalin is still stimulated by sight, smell, sound and of course the power of our thoughts.
So even if the sounds we hear are no longer relevant (like the sparrow quarrelling) it may stimulate an involuntary reaction similar to fear.
My belief is that we are inherently peace loving, that as Divine beings, carrying the essence of God within the heart of every one of us we prefer to be loving even when we react to conflict physically in our bodies and emotions. Even though we understand that this is by design.
So my question for your reflection this week is this – is our body reacting to memories, even from decades or even lifetimes ago when we hear the aggression embedded in sounds, or are we really troubled by conflict because we are simply wired for peace?
We know that all sounds are vibrations and that we each have a personal vibrational frequency that reacts and responds to other vibrations. But, are you always aware of your physical response to the sounds of disharmony? (and to what degree?)
Does it upset you?
How do you deal with that reaction?
Could you change anything by becoming more aware in the moment? (Before the sensations escalate). We are complex creatures, aren’t we?
Here’s a couple of things you might like to try that I’ve built into my own daily practice, in order to deal with being so very sensitive to things outside my control:
Every morning I call upon the Archangel Michael to protect my energies, then I place myself in an imaginary ring of bright light which I pull up around my body and over my head with the intention of protecting my self in Divine angelic energy.
I make it a daily essential to notice the beauty around me, even on the days that I do not have time to drink my first ‘cuppa’ in the garden. If I can’t spare the time to have ten minutes listening to the birds, watching the bees and inspecting the growing flowers, on busy early-departure days I engage with the energy and beauty of the trees and hedgerows as I drive along. If I’m in a town or city I’ll observe the colour of the sky, cloud formations, skylines, and the faces of those I pass in the street. There is always something / someone with beauty to engage with.
I try to remember always to bless the day ahead in advance, the people I’m going to meet and the places I need to go to. By anticipating all will be well, it usually is!
If something or someone holds aggressive tones I try to observe how it makes me feel – in that moment – and then allow the feeling to disperse as I breathe down into my body. I call upon Archangel Chamuel to fill me with love and visualise this spreading from me like a mist of pink light. (Breathe out the anxiety, breathe in the love)
None of these work unless I wish them to, believe that they will work and engage with them fully. The human mind and ego just love to be involved in concocting a drama and pointing out the reasons for failure and fear. The secret is not to become embroiled in the drama – especially when it is not your story, and let the spirit be stronger than the ego!
Ah, the sparrow family have settled, by the way, and I’m now aware of the gentle hum of a large bee on the rhododendron and the song of a robin high in the evergreen behind my office. Bliss. Calm once again restored. Peace in sparrow-land prevails!
