COVID-19 DIARIES. DAY 25- A KIND OF PEACE

Watchet, Somerset, UK, 16th April 2020 22:46

When I was doing my counselling training over 10 years ago, my dear friend Markkus asked a question: “is silence a sound?”. I thought about this today whilst walking the dog with my daughter this evening. I noticed how quiet it has become lately. But not quiet as in an absence of sounds, but quiet from human sounds, especially engines.

It has been one of the nice advantages of lockdown: no aeroplanes, hardly any cars, no building works, etc. This has allowed me to notice other sounds which were always there but that I did not notice or even hear as they were drowned by human sounds.

I could hear birds, lots of them, a great variety, different tones and melodies and species. Last night I heard an owl, very far away but it felt really close.

I did hear the wind rustling the leaves on the trees. I noticed snippets of faraway conversations carried in the breeze. I heard laughter from children and barking from dogs. A distant song on someone’s radio (Elbow’s A Day Like This). The sound of my footsteps on the sand. The panting of the dog.

I could hear all these sounds in crystal clear high definition, a truly aural pleasant experience.

These sounds have always been there but I haven’t been able to notice them because of the background noise created by regular human activity.

The soundtrack to COVID-19 is a throwback to a different era. It reminds me of my childhood, of simpler pleasures and less busy times.

The universe is reminding us every day that we can do things differently. I really hope that we can retain some of this peace. We need to make different, more peaceful choices when we get to the other side of this.

Good night all

OneLove OneHeart OnePlanet

Tonight’s choice of music is by Faithless: A Kind Of Peace

World-wide confirmed cases: 2,138,763

World-wide deaths: 142,735

World-wide recovered: 540,656

UK confirmed cases: 104,145

UK deaths: 13,759

UK recovered: 371

Source: https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6