BELONGING TO THE EARTH
All creation in the universe above us, as well the universe below our feet, hum in tones; audible or inaudible. The entire Universe, every tree and plant, all life forms, sound in frequencies and tones. Everything around us is breathing and singing. We are constantly being immersed in subtle communications in the ever-present flow of vitality and life, receiving resonances of sounds, through the processes of life and death in the creation of energy that comes through sounds and song. We are all constantly breathing in and out together sharing the same air and sharing the same sound waves in our exhale with all other life forms on Earth.
Embedded in every place on the Earth are living sounds. Sounds from nature, sounds of mothers, sounds of family, sounds of crying, sounds of laughter, sounds of a drum beat, sounds of hands working, sounds of the land, sounds of birds and animals. All of these sounds find their way into the songs of a place, sounds of belonging and sounds of a culture.
The purpose of stories and songs in any culture is to share a lived experience. Songs and stories carry information, lessons and cultural teaching, passed down through the generations, usually through oral methods. Songs and stories are keepers of knowledge, place markers in a region, in a time in history and of a culture. A song is from a place and a people, it can have specific rhythms and melodies related to a place, a climate, a specific language, a specific clan, a tribe, a community, a family. It creates a relationship with the people and the environment around us to which each of us belong.
We are all part of the universal sounds and songs. We are all part of the frequencies and patterns that resonate, that relate in relationship to all life forms. Humming and musical sounds bring a vibration to the body, an attunement, an opportunity to move into a deeper place, and to receive in a deeper way. This helps us attend to deeper listening and a deeper reflection with nature around us; of the trees, the wind, the birds, the animals, as well the ground under our feet. All have sounds.
May we each find a sense of curiosity and search out the stories and songs of our own native homelands, our own places of origin or the lands we call home. For each stretch of land and water has its own original songs, no matter what part of the world we come from. We are all a part of a particular experience of grief and celebration of the land that supports us.
May we not just live in a place, but instead, may we go through a process of becoming placed.