How Does the Wind Move Us?

The wind can storm, tornado, hurricane as well as breeze. It can frighten or comfort depending on what shape it takes. It can also play tricks on our hearing.

I was walking up a portion of our rural road that is forested on both sides, and suddenly I heard and felt a roar of sound, like thunder, or like a massive truck was headed in my direction. I looked around and there was neither a truck nor a storm. All there was to see were the trees, some bending, moving in their own way, and the sky, a clouded blue. But what a sky it was. And those trees, so stiff and yet firmly rooted. And my attention now so awakened by their thunder.

A road can become a funnel for sound. When I served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone,I lived in the bush off the unpaved main road. Between villages, huge trees covered the road on both sides. I could hear a truck coming from many miles away. Flagging down a lorry was the only way for anyone in the village to get a ride anywhere. So, if I was intent on going somewhere, I could go into my house, finish packing a bag, and walk leisurely out to the road in time to flag down the lorry for a ride.

Hearing, like smell, is a sense that spreads out on all sides. We can home in on a sound by moving our head. But unlike sight, which is mostly aimed directly in front of us, or touch and taste, hearing sweeps our entire 360-degree sensory environment.

Each part of the day has its own music. We hear the morning, for example, not just see it. In the spring and summer, birds, and in warm weather, cicadas welcome the rising sun.

When I lived in Sierra Leone, as sunrise approached, the jungle awoke with an increasing volume and variety of sounds, culminating in a concert of insects, birds, possibly monkeys and other creatures. It felt like the earth itself was waking up, a mouth opening to speak. The dusk is another time the world clearly speaks to us. What does an eye or an ear opening and closing sound like? Is one sense a chorus for another or do different qualities of light have a specific sound component?

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For some of us, yes. Synesthetes, for example, can see or feel sounds. A strong wind might be perceived as a specific color. The word ‘synesthesia’ derives from the Greek meaning “to perceive together.” People who have the condition unite or switch sense modalities, hear color, or taste sound. The condition is rare, about one in 2,000 people share it. It is a biological condition, not a hallucination; it runs in families and is more prevalent in women.

What is the weight of thunder? The shadow of a car horn? The taste of the words we speak?

What happens if we’re used to a bud in our ear, a headphone, with music or voices constantly saturating our hearing, and suddenly it is taken away? Nothing is there, or nothing pre-recorded. If we’re so used to recorded sound ⎼ or internal noise ⎼ what happens when all we hear is live silence? Do we run away from hearing? Or run towards it? Does boredom have a sound?

Right now, whether we’re reading, walking or whatever, maybe we can stop and gently, kindly listen to the world around us. Before we speak with anyone, we can take a moment to listen to their breathing. What do we hear right now?

A quiet breath or a staccato beat? Listen to the inhalation begin and end. If we’re outside, is that a bird call? A tree bending? A car? By stopping, we allow ourselves to feel more included in the whole situation, not isolated by or focused on our destination. We are more present, not consumed by thoughts of the future.

If we’re in a city, maybe we can step back for a moment, and listen. What does a car horn or police siren or human voice sound like before we attach a memory or a word to it? Can we hear the moment before we label a sound as a noise or a pleasure? Can we listen for the first hint of sound, the first awakening of our attention that something is there for us to perceive? Can we listen to the world as if it were music created for us to enjoy?

Can we hear as if hearing was our primary sense, like we were a moth or a bat or an elephant or a porpoise, all of which can hear far more sounds than we can? Or not actually hearing differently, can we imagine how different it would be to live in a world dominated by vivid and constant sound instead of colors and shapes and feel comfortable in it?

How does the wind move us? Next time we hear the wind trucking or storming up our road, we can turn around and take in the absence of what we expected, the freshness and clarity of the world freed from our thoughts about it.

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This post is republished on Medium.

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