I was listening to the birds this morning. There were many, but 2 sounds stood out. One sound that I though was beautiful and another sound that I thought was ugly. The beautiful sound was chirp, a delicate and fluttering essence. The ugly sound was a squawk, a noise vomit emitted without concern. The chirp was polite, unoffensive, and social. Like the person who can enter the room and in the present moment introduce themselves with warmth and comfort. The squawk was rude. The squawk was the uninvited guest. The one who shows up to the potluck with nothing to contribute. The eater of the food, the one who leaves before the dishes are washed. The squawk occupied my ears. Its harsh, guttural sound, from deep within its throat, took a shit on my moment and fly away, remorseless.
So I sat there. This entire experience, the process of hearing the sound, judging the sound, and formulating an opinion of disgust, happened in the span on milliseconds. It was automatic, a function of my brain set on cruise-control. I could not stop my mind from acting, it just did.
And so it goes with so many things, maybe everything. We cannot stop our consciousness from experiencing and we cannot stop our minds from comprehending and interpreting. Imagine, someone one the bus behind you says something in your language. You cannot avoid hearing it. You cannot avoid interpreting it. You mind just does it. It hears and it understand, on its own terms. Are you they your terms? Or are they your minds terms? Why is the squawk bad and the chirp good?
Can we reframe and decide to enjoy the squawk more than the chirp? It is just a sound anyway.
Was I born with this love of chirp and hatred of squawks? Was this something I developed as I grew up?
Why does my friend enjoy the squawk and I enjoy the chirp? Why does my other friend hate the squawk even more than me?
These auto-isms are weird. Are you happy with yours?
- K
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