Un-Mute
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (NIV)
My 4th grade music teacher, Ms. Deal, taught me an important lesson on the importance of sound in creating understanding. She showed us the same scene from ET two different ways- with and without sound. Without the sound, the intricacies of dialogue, inflection, and tone were lost, and without music setting the mood, I quickly lost interest. As unsatisfied as I was initially, the second time, with the sound was breathtakingly suspenseful. Each new sound was introduced and blended with the rest, creating a tense yet memorable experience. What I came to realize was that as frustrating as it was to watch that section on mute, I often interact with the world in the same muted way.
Think for a moment about how muting keeps a speaker from transmitting sound. Speakers rely on electric impulse to create vibrations that are amplified to fill a room with life-giving sound. Sound is constantly being generated in the form of electrical impulses, yet muting diverts that current to an internal loop. Un-muting sends that potential energy coursing through the wires to be amplified and expressed.
When I am emotionally muted, my face, like a screen, plays a movie lacking the soundtrack my voice provides. As I continue my personal growth work and gain access to my internal director, I am learning how to un-mute my emotions more effectively. The more deeply I connect with myself and express my internal drama out loud, the more my body pulses with energy and aliveness. Each time I turn my emotional volume up a notch my soundtrack and screen begin to match, and my internal director celebrates. Being in sync allows for more understanding and connection to occur with God, others, and myself.
My internal director is designed to make impactful movies; ones that people want to pay attention to and connect with. A great movie begins with meaningful dialogue and clear sound. As I pay closer attention to how well my internal sound matches my external being I will be transforming my life from a boring movie on mute to an Academy Award winning film.
So, check your volume, are you muted? Let’s emotionally un-mute and begin living in the surround sound of our lives, telling the world that we are a movie worth seeing!
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Andrew Mercer is a committed Christian as well as a licensed therapist practicing out of Northbrook, Illinois at the Center for Christian Life Enrichment. He has a passion for helping clients live in the full abundance that God intended. He regards honesty and truth as valuable principles in forming close relationships, and has a heart for the Northshore community and twenty-somethings. When he’s not working, you can find Andrew running, reading, and enjoying a healthy lifestyle.
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