Have the birds always been this loud?

This was a question I heard on radio soon after the lockdown in the UK had started.

Well, of course, the answers is “yes - they always have been this loud!”

But the noise of our usual everyday lives, factories, transport, business etc simply drowns them out or at very least turns down the volume.

It’s one of those experiences that arrived in our lives at the same time as discovering just how difficult it was to order online shopping, or get any delivery of anything.

Along, of course, depending on what generation you are, with exploring the mysteries of technology with webinars, zoom conferences, TikTok, video calls and so on.

But – to get back to the birds.

The dawn chorus and twilight song got me thinking about the concept of listening to the still small voice inside us as therapists when we are with a client.

There’s something about trusting our instincts in the process with a client....and acting on our instincts.

There’s something about nurturing that element of our own “inner supervisor” in the “here and now”.

There’s something about being real and congruent with a client in session as part of the immediate process.

And there’s something about listening to our own inner needs, thoughts and dreams as well.

So what do we usually do when we hear those noises and that inner voice that the busy-ness of our lives usually drowns out?

That depends on us entirely.  It depends on how much we know ourselves.  How much we trust our instincts.  How much self-care we recognise and engage in.  How much those times of reflection and reflective practice are part of our daily lives and work.

Of course, when we all emerge from this lockdown process, there are many things I will not miss.

But I hope I will have learned enough from the process too, to no longer turn the volume down for myself on the things that really matter.

And I want the volume of the dawn chorus to be something that continues to inspire and nourish me whatever business and work looks like.

That may mean I need to turn the volume down on something else in my life.

How about you?