SOMETHING TO WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND—OR WRAP AROUND YOUR HEAD
One day last week I sat down and did this funky little exercise. At 1Pm I wrote down the thought I had 30 seconds before or at least the last whole thought I remember which was “I’m disgusted that someone thinks they impress people by going as fast as they. Can for the 6 blocks between stop lights on Oak Street . Then I set an alarm for 20 minutes and went about my business. When the alarm went off I wrote down. Every thought I could remember having in that 20 minutes and then sort of identified what the message those thoughts was either.screaming at me or what belief they were emerging from. A list of all the thoughts here would be rather boring—maybe—-let’s just summarize for efficiency’s sake. I was listening to a couple of podcasts. The first was about baseball and the three thoughts that emerged were how much I missed the daily story of each game that is usually in full swing by this time in the year. Then I thought that a shorter season would probably help my Chicago Cubs and their old pitching ace. Then I thought well maybe a whole year without baseball would make this whole. Social event called COVID 19 really stick with me for the rest of my life. So then I wondered how long that would be. I don’t think about that very often...I mean I do think about how special life is and I do know that. It is finite in length, but I don’t try to calculate how much time I have left. So that was about 10 seconds worth of thoughts. I also thought that tomorrow I shouldn’t eat hot dogs so early in the day even if that did constitute lunch and they were inexpensive. Then it was. Time for “Webster’s Word of the day”. There’s that stupid car again. Oh I missed the word but I’m not going to rewind today... there will be a new word tomorrow. I couldn’t hear the word because I only had one ear piece of my headphones (Apple wired earbuds) in So I started to think about that and that’s what prompted today.
You see I own all kinds of things that make noise and all kinds of things to listen to those things. Right now I have a pair of. Traditional sony (cheap but fairly rich sounding over the ear headphones, two “music man little Bluetooth minispeakers. They are cute little Plastic/rubber robotic looking. Men that have a surprisingly good sound and also function as a microphone if you hold down a little button on it’s back. Conceivably you can answer your phone with one but I think I’d feel really strange talking to one of the riser little dudes. I have a pair of wired Bluetooth ear buds that only one ear functions on, but I wear them on walks sometimes because I can hear traffic better. I have a barrel shaped Bluetooth speaker that is about two inches tall and round and it really kicks butt for it’s size. The charge doesn’t last as long as it once did, however it’s good for an hour or so if it’s not plugged in. There is my Bud Light Cooler/blue tooth speakers combo that sounds really good and the speaker time is probably over an hourk when fully charged You can also plus the cooler directly into a sound source so with a chord or two it could go all day. Finally, most recently I bought a new pair of noise cancelling Bluetooth over the ear headphones. They are really nice. The charge lasts up to 30 hours of playing time and I have pushed them past 24 a couple of times. I din’t think noise cancelling features on headphones were that. Big of a deal until I had these. When the audio signal coming in is only what the headphones are linked to then there are only two sources of input to my thinking processes—the music and my thoughts. In the past week I have listened pretty regularly to those thoughts and here are the ones that sing the loudest when it comes to peace. And joy.
First, for about six months I have listened to podcasts about. History and writing and some sports first thing in the morning. However the other day I listened to music for the first. Few minutes of my day and found. That I felt way more peaceful. After meditation and stretching it’s music from now on. second, when wearing my headphones I tend to be far more selective about. Where I focus my attention. This leads me to wonder if I let my attention drift the rest of the time until something catches it, and if so, is that okay or do I nee3d to be more intentional with my listening. Lord knows every time I hear about the economic. Impact of the pandemic I get a little angry and probably. Need to shift my attention to seeking creative ways to bring meaning to life for myself and others. That is not tied to the pocket book. third, except when I’m wearing the noise cancelling phones people around here know I am aware of being talked to and except when the volume is very loud they kare welcome to interrupt my listening.... I think it is important for people. To know that you are willing to listen and learn at all times. I wonder if wearing. Headphones sometimes prevents people from sharing with me so I’m going to. Be more aware of the public symbol that some of my choices project.
These are thoughts that came to mind while thinking about headphones and other listening devices. Somehow I can’t help but thinking about hearing from a first grade nun that students had two ears and only one mouth for a reason. Next I can’t help. But think I can control the first and last things my headphones bring reach day and I can also probably do the same for the last things I say and. The last things I may think and maybe seeking peace and joy would be a different journey if I paid a little. More attention to these edge of the day experiences. I mean prayer and meditation are great, but if Ifocus more. When Ihave my headphones plugged in could I build on these experiences?
To sum up....choose wisely when figuring out where the external and the internal sounds that roll through your mind come from. Rest assured that. All of your thoughts will never stay focused for too long and that tracking the stream can sometimes provide insights. Be amazed at how diverse and quick the thoughts flow if you don’t judge. Them. Be thankful for the variety of sounds and thoughts your mind and soul are capable of hearing if you listen. Also if the messages you hear sound the same day after day after day maybe you need to change your headphones and sometimes noise cancelling is a good choice. —-Quick.what was the last thought you had before reading this?
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