Psychologically Speaking

with Stewart Hase

Choosing your own music

A lot of people tell me about their general disquiet about what is happening in the world at large and their local communities. The dollar god, rampant consumerism, globalisation, the power of corporations over us, political and social unrest at every level, living in an economy rather than a society, a lack of care for the environment, rapid change, job insecurity, an increased level of anger in the community expressed in behaviour like road rage. The list could go on and on. For some it goes beyond disquiet and there is ample evidence to show that many people are suffering from the effects of the world in which we live. Some describe it as like being in the middle of a whirlpool, spinning out of control. And of course it is this feeling that leads to feelings of distress. I suspect though that we could change things for ourselves by making some different choices in areas where we do have control.

I told the following story to a friend of mine recently who was about to have an operation for a serious medical condition. Understandably my friend was preoccupied with the thought of the surgery and its potential aftermath. The thought of having no control at all.

There is a story from Greek mythology about how Orpheus, who was sailing with Jason and the Argonaughts, overcame the dangerous Sirens. These Sirens had the nasty habit of enchanting men with their beautiful song and then killing them when they had been seduced to come close. Orpheus, however, after one of his crew had fallen under the spell of the Sirens and jumped overboard, picked up his lyre. He began to play and sing a song more beautiful than the Sirens so that his crew then turned their attention to him rather than become enchanted and drown. With that the Sirens were beaten and then turned to stone.

There is no doubt that it is not easy making different choices and sometimes we don't have a lot of options. But we can choose what messages we listen to. We can listen to the external chatterings telling us to buy more so that we can be happy, work harder and stay home less, don't have any time for fun, have quality time with the kids but not lots of time, the half-truths in the media and the political double speak, and to think globally. We can also listen to the internal chatterings of self-doubt, anger, anxiety, that there is nothing that can be done, and being out of control. Or we can decide to dance to a different tune. One of our own.

I can't do much about the insanity in Iraq but I can decide to listen to some great music to soften the blow. Or walk on the beach. Fly a kite. Talk to a friend. Take a long slow breath and relax for a while. Watch less television and spend more time doing things with family and friends. Be part of the community. Be a local rather than a global player. It might even mean changing a job, a partner or moving somewhere else.

We don't have to listen to the Sirens if we don't want to. Time to write a new DVD!