When I was cleaning my office the other day, I found a fortune.
You know, one of those little white slips of paper that we all look forward to inside a Chinese fortune cookie? It was under a chair, and looked as if it had never been touched let alone folded inside a cookie. Strange. How did THAT get THERE?
It read: “Time heals all wounds. Keep your chin up.”
Because this little piece of paper was a random fortune found under a random chair, it got my attention. I have been thinking about time and healing for weeks now.
As inhabitants of planet earth, there is this concept called time we are forced to contend with. I think the idea of time deserves a conversation so we can all relax and allow natural processes to do their magic.
Whether we are healing physically or emotionally, we need to acknowledge that healing takes . . . time. In most cases, there is no way around it.
Some levels of healing can only be done through the medium of time, but that’s another topic for another post.
In terms of healing the voice, I’ve noticed a few things over the years. First, there is no substitute for consistent repetition over time for learning to coordinate physical movement more efficiently. When we are learning new vocal habits, or learning to coordinate phonation more efficiently, a once a week routine ain’t gonna do it. Bits of daily practice for months and sometimes years are what the body requires in order to memorize new patterns.
This is why I often start a client with a 5 minute per day commitment to vocal coordination exercises. Your mental chitter-chatter may tell you that 5 minutes won’t help, but over time this nominal amount of “correct” practice can create the foundation of some really good sound. It is a mistake to think otherwise.
Also note: 5 minutes of practice typically turns into 10, then 15, and so on. Learning to get in the habit of practicing is a thing unto itself.
I have one client, who after 2 and half years, still calls me up regularly and talks about the new things her voice is doing. The improvements continue to happen even after we habilitated her voice back to normal because she keeps working at it.
Time is on her side, but then again she has also learned the art of patience and constantly says things like, “the answers keep coming,” and “it just keeps getting better and better.” She made friends with the process of healing and allows time to be of assistance.
I think time can work for or against us, don’t you?
It all depends on how we approach it, and whether we have the courage to let go and let the natural healing forces of the universe do their work on our behalf.
This is where I have to remind myself that we are fundamentally built for health and wellness. Doing my part to exercise my voice efficiently will yield results – over time.
One of the reasons time and healing have been on my mind lately is because I’m going through an AFGO. I desperately want to be healed and OVER IT already! My mind is ready for the next phase of life ’cause this pain thing is super inconvenient and I know without a doubt that everything’s going to be just fine. (Better than fine, actually!) But my heart still feels broken, and I’m having to face the reality that the ultimate cure for this trauma rests in . . . time.
My ego thinks the “waiting” is annoying, but my spirit knows that this is going to take a minute. I know you can relate.
There is good work to be done while we wait, though. Please hear me – there is no substitute for putting in the work and effort required to help ourselves. The other part is resting in and allowing time to do it’s thing.
As much as I wish this were not true, we live in a physical reality and things can only go as fast as they can go.
Time heals all wounds. Keep your chin up. Got it.