Yesterday I was reminded of two principals I know well, still contemplate with awe, and practice as best I can: gratitude, and the power of sound.
Expressing gratitude for what we have in our lives is something many forget to do, even though it’s a cornerstone of all spirituality, religious traditions, and the best self-improvement books. While I think often of the people, situations, and things in my life for which and whom I’m grateful, sometimes an unexpected situation evokes a stronger level of gratitude. I’ve had a lot of these gratitude epiphanies in the past few — rough — years, and I feel even more gratitude would be better!
One of yesterday’s small epiphanies came as I was shipping my custom headphones off for repair. As do many, I listen to music when I work, travel, and often when I play. Because I wear headphones so much, several years ago I invested in a custom-made set of musician’s (which I am not!) earpieces. They’re incomparably more comfortable than regular in-ear headphones, and most people don’t even know I’m wearing them, especially since I usually have only one ear plugged in and the cord running down the back of my shirt to my iPod shuffle. The custom earpieces also give great sound, and block out exterior noise (thus the one-ear-plugged-in).
The headphones are almost a part of me, which makes it easy to take them for granted. I DO think about and say thanks for them when I put them on, and occasionally throughout the day, I realize I’m wearing them without feeling them, for which I’m grateful. I also much appreciate being able to reduce the effect of background music and TVs — which is one of the reasons I wear them, and leads to the related topic of this post.
Most Americans seem to be inured to the effects of sound. Radios, TVs, loudspeakers, and conversations of the cell-phone and in-person variety are incredibly loud in the United States. One doesn’t even have to go to Europe to notice the contrast: Just visit our Canadian neighbors for an instant experience of quiet and respectful public places (Just don’t go to a restaurant geared towards American tourists. The only time I encountered a noisy restaurant in Canada, it was designed for and inhabited by Americans, and the sound level was telling!)
As one highly sensitive to sounds and vibrations (although I’m not an auditory learner!), I hear — and often feel — TVs, radios, and conversations in distant rooms. The normal volume at which TVs and radios play in most public places drowns conversations I attempt in the presence of background noise.
Why, then, would I wear headphones playing music a good bit of the time?
The specific music, sound, and vibration of the sound makes a difference. I listen to music which focuses my brain, de-stresses my body, and energizes me and my work. It’s not always “quiet” music; much of it is very fast, but it works for me.* The right music in my earpiece counteracts background music which might otherwise have the opposite effect. Plug me into the wrong music, or, worse yet, a talk show, and my brain doesn’t work the right way, my body tenses, and the quality and speed of my work decreases.
If you think this is far-fetched, it’s really not. And I may be crazy, but not about the effects of sound. I can feel and see the effects in myself, and even see how it affects other people. Modern scientists are learning what ancient healers and musicians knew: Sound — vibration — affects us mentally, emotionally, and physically. Sound changes structure and influences behavior.
Now, this post isn’t designed to be a comprehensive treatise on sound; while I have experience and reading under my belt, I’m not the expert, and the literature about the effects of sound is diverse and expanding.** In other words, I’ll stop myself before I attempt a thesis, and get to the point:
Sound affects your body, your thoughts, and your actions. The sounds we’re filling our American lives with are, for the most part, junk food. Babble spews from TV shows and their pundits. Hatred and misogyny fill popular songs. Rhythms and beats tend towards the mechanical, stressing our body and organs. And digital sound with its 1s and 0s likely has a different effect on the body than the organic waves of analog sound. All day long, in public places as well as private, we’re bombarded with media and sound that may assault, weaken, and manipulate how we think and act.
Yes, the upbeat song you listen to when you’re at the gym gets you moving, but what’s the emotion behind it? How are the beat, the tune, the lyrics affecting your muscles, your cells, your thoughts? Is the music you listen to when you work out supporting your body physiology, or breaking down the muscles you think you’re building? Is the message in the lyrics positive, or one that’s going to get you thinking along a negative train of thought all day long? How many times do you repeat to yourself the jingle from the ad or the show you heard first thing in the morning?
Do you really pay attention to what you’re listening to during your days and nights? Are you listening to sounds, music, conversations you really want to invite into your body, your mind, your life? Or are you putting up with (or blocking as much as you can) sounds that are unwanted guests?
You have a choice. You can turn down or turn off the TV and the music. You can change the content and the channel. You can choose what sounds you want to ingest. When you monitor the sounds going in to your ears, head, and body, you’re likely to have an easier time controlling your thoughts, your actions, and your body.
Of course, you’ll still have to monitor the internal sounds — your thoughts — but that’s easier when you’re not bombarded with external noise.
Try it. You might be grateful.
*I generally listen to South Indian bhajans, Sanskrit and Gregorian chants sung by women, Giuni Russo, and similar types of what what I call devotional music with a certain feel, lyrics, and use of sound, rhythm, and beat that aligns my brain and body.
** To learn more about sound, read the following websites and books; these reveal the tip of the iceberg!
The book links are affiliate links to The Tattered Cover.
An article about the Dr. Emoto and David Sereda
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