awoken

“What you’re hearing is the raspy mating call of the male Kudu in must.” “What you’re hearing is another set of lies attacking the character of the Governor of Michigan.” “What you’re hearing is a live performance of Turandot from the Met.” “What you’re hearing is the sound of a foghorn calling ships into the harbour.” “What you’re hearing is the same noise your dog is hearing, albeit experienced very differently by the both of you.”

So many sounds to enhance the video tracks of our lives. When I was a kid we’d play a borderline macabre game where we’d ask each other if we were only able to have one sense, what would we choose? This was a hard one for me. I couldn’t decide how despondentI’d be if I had either no sight or no sound. Could I handle blindness easier than deafness? Sight was always edged our by hearing. It is a precious gift to me and is the ultimate defining sense of my life. I couldn’t comprehend giving up all the sounds of my treasured music. Or the angry crash of waves on the beach. Or the torrential rain pounding the roof during a midsummer Texas storm, or a dog’s cry of happiness, or my wife’s measured breathing in sleep, or a river’s gurgle during a snowstorm, or ice cracking or eggs frying, or the soft hum of the engine of a BMW, or a glass breaking.

Or all the myriad voices I’ve heard or had to listen to over the years, some transmitting comfort or fear, or warning, or pleasure. Or disapproval or disappointment. Or pain or ecstasy. Voices in unison or voices alone. Voices in conversation. Sometimes comprehended, sometimes just sound without meaning. Sounds of Silence. Make a Joyful Noise. Do You Hear What I Hear?

What you’re hearing is just what you need to hear.

You don’t now what you’ve till it’s gone…or, absence makes the heart grow fonder…or you never know what you had until it’s taken away. These adages are rooted in wisdom and experience. They’re especially true regarding humor. A sense, or gift or appreciation of humor is priceless. It relieves tension, breaks the ice and encourages participation in otherwise unequal social settings. Humor carries with it descriptive monikers like “dry wit”, ‘biting”, “generous” and “quick-witted”.

It’s a universal language for me and when I encounter people without a sense of it, I’m at a loss with respect to how to relate to them. A person without a sense of humor self-identifies as one with no appreciation for the sense of humor, and they paint themselves in drab colors and they back away from the center of social interactions.

When I’m in the middle of a drab period, the lack of laughter weakens me. It’s a good alarm for me to get my personal “waste” together and climb out of the hole I may have dug for myself. Good unstoppable laughter that brings one to tears is the best of all. All of your defenses are down, and you’re all speaking the same language—a sort of emotional Esperanto.

In these past few weeks, the need for humor could not be greater. The world is turned in ward in hopes of killing the parabolic rise of COVID-19. Isolation from friends and family and travel is already starting to cause social stress fractures. Just knowing I don’t have the freedom to travel at will is depressing. There’s no humor in it. Maybe that’s because there is none to find.

So one looks for another tool to use. Wisdom is one. Wisdom is hard to really define, but you feel it and know it when you see it. For me, it’s a goal to strive for and in the striving, a journey toward enlightenment. Wisdom can also equip one with a sense of serenity; knowing what can and cannot be done in a certain situation.

I know I’m higher that most on the risk factors chart for this virus, given my immunosuppressive disease. I understand that I have to take greater precautions than others. So I observe the warnings with a healthy attitude. I’m not always 100% successful, but I do find victory in the effort.

Maybe that’s self awareness, the first step to looking up and finding wisdom. It makes me smile and maybe see a little bit of humor in my growth. And to have gratitude for another day to garner wisdom and sow some laughter.