Weeds and Noise - my new friends
Last year, I wrote about how my front lawn embarrassed me with all its weeds and disarray. I wanted to fix it and replace it with healthy grass. Many of you kindly educated me (I needed it!) about how harmful grass lawns are and how my dandelions and weeds were good for pollination. I considered hardscape alternatives, which boggled my mind, and my overwhelm led me nowhere. This spring, as I gaze upon my riot of dandelions and weeds, I have a very different feeling. No embarrassment. No shame. I am now fond of what I used to call a disaster and hope the birds and bees stop by and do their health-promoting business.
What really interests me about this change of mind is just that – how our beliefs and the stories we tell ourselves shape our actions and moods. What was once shame is now pride and delight. Nothing changed outside; the weeds are still there, just as they were last year. What did change was the story I now have in my mind about the value and goodness of those same weeds. I swapped one story for another, one I like much better. And still, the weeds are just the weeds.
Here’s another ordinary life example of the mind’s power to determine our well-being … I sometimes sit on my screened-in porch and meditate. Our house is next to a road that gets busy during commute hours, just the times I tend to meditate. So, when I sit down to meditate, the sound of cars and trucks whooshing by is quite predominant. Initially, the traffic sounds unpleasant - not peaceful. It reminds me of the rushing world, and I feel irritation. However, I’ve noticed that the sound of the traffic is quite similar to the sound of ocean waves coming and going on the shoreline. There is a rhythm to both, along with a sound that resembles white noise. I LOVE listening to the ocean! So, my mind turns the traffic into ocean waves, and I am at peace. I use that sound as the object of my meditation – the anchor I establish for my wandering mind to return to for present-moment awareness. What I first thought of as unwanted noise is now sound – and I enjoy it because I’ve imbued it with a delightful association.
You may think that I'm just fooling myself with my ‘lawn’ and my traffic. Shouldn’t I call a spade a spade (no lawn pun intended)? Maybe. But I am intrigued and interested in the mind’s ability to shape our experience. It’s very powerful and can be used to improve our lives. I get to enjoy my weeds and my meditation. This is a choice I make, and no one is harmed. This is commonly called reframing, and our ability to employ it can contribute to greater peace and resilience.
So often, the stories we tell ourselves, especially those from our inner critic, do not help us at all. Stories like ‘I’m not good enough’ or ‘’I’m not lovable’, etc. These thoughts are real because we have them, but they are not true. We do well to not listen to them. It’s a worthy practice to drop these negative stories when we can and find a way to reframe our experience, ‘I am loved and lovable,’ ‘Just because I lost this job does not make me worthless.’
Are there times you have questioned the truth of your thoughts and found greater peace as a result?
You’re welcome (encouraged!) to leave comments or your own reflections below … and please sign up for my newsletter/blog at the top of this page if you haven’t already.
(To read that post from last year, click here, then return to this one to leave a comment.)
