The birds from childhood
Hi,
A year ago or so millennials on the internet started wondering what happened to the birds they used to hear during childhood all the time. Well, nothing really. We just stopped hearing them because we're busy now and have responsibilities, and, probably the main cause of it all, because corporations are stealing our attention. The birds are out there and you can still hear them, but you just have to turn everything off and just look out the window or sit on a bench outside.
There is definitely some sort of nostalgia associated with doing nothing and just being surrounded by nature. Whenever I feel overwhelmed and stressed out, I think about the times when I didn't feel like this and it is always some quiet time. I think about the time when I waited for a bus to take me to another city or part of a city, the park I used to sit around with some friends of mine and just wonder about the world, staying at my grandma's place on the countryside where there was no internet or even cell service. I had to entertain myself by coming up with my own alphabet, spending time outside, listening to music or journaling whatever in my secret alphabet and wondering about the universe. The days were endless.
I think these damn phones (grandparents were right?) have conditioned me/us to just be connected to everything all the time and to check for something new all the time. If not, I will just scroll through emails, photos or my banking app which is the only thing I have left on my phone to scroll through. However, it is the moments when we were quiet, on our own, with no distractions, just existing or focusing on something, that we think of retrospectively and find so fulfilling and nostalgic. It's not the birds we miss hearing, it is the peace and quiet that allowed us to hear the birds that we actually miss.
I usually listen to a podcast whenever I do chores, but sometimes I prefer doing chores without listening to anything. I am just in my room noticing my room, the laundry I am folding or the dishes I am cleaning. It is almost meditative. It feels intimate. It feels secret. It feels great.
So, turn everything off for a bit and just stare at the ceiling or out the window, notice your rug, random pattern on a wall or how light fills your space. Open the windows, let some fresh air in and just sit in silence. There is no urgency in these moments. There's just existence. Let yourself exist.