I’ve been thinking about getting a drum for years, it seems like a healthy way to make some noise. When I lived in Oregon there was a man at the farmers market every Saturday who made beautiful custom drums. You could pick the totem animal he would hand paint on the face of the drum, the hide, the trim, the colors, the whole thing. Although the look of the drum carries personally meaningful symbolism the most important part of the instrument is the sound it makes and whether that sound resonates within. The right sound mirrors our internal sound, it’s the sound of our soul. This got me thinking about the most important work we do in our lives, choosing the sound we make in the world.

What we say and the actions we take define us. They reveal the person we are and show what we stand for. The silent question continually asked alongside each sound we make is are we being true to our authentic self. There are all kinds of different sounds to make and it’s important to be clear about what we’re choosing because the sound we make becomes the life we live. It defines our attitudes, feelings, ideas, relationships, and ultimately the quality of our lives. The sound we make determines whether people run towards us or away. Do others search us out for advice, comfort, or getting a plan together, or stay away because we yell and wound? The sound we choose effects not only us and those around us but also the world. Maybe the question we should ask ourselves is what would we like to contribute. The more we know the answer to that question the more sense we make to our self. There are enough sour, distrustful, rotting hearts, let’s see if we can come up with a better sound to contribute. Let our sound be that of inspiration and hope, of kindness and joy.

It is easy to get lost in the noise that goes on all around us, easy to mistake another’s deep convictions for our own. Part of owning the sound we make is being honest about what we want, this, more than anything else, will cultivate greater clarity. This is where a hollow copy of another will never do. We need to find the truth of who we are inside even if the people closest to us don’t particularly like it. It’s ours after all and the clearer we are about who we are the more beautiful the sound we will make. It requires the hard work of looking inside and honoring all that we find there. It can take a lot of sorting through all the other sounds we’ve been making to fit in or smooth rough edges, but the right sound will always ring true.

Let’s try making the authentic sound of our soul.

kb