Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Why You Need to Learn to Whistle


Can you whistle?

I'm starting to to think this is a lost art. My parents were wonderful whistlers. I remember hearing my mom whistle as she cleaned the house or walked up and down the grocery store aisles. My dad always whistled while working on the car or cleaning out the garage.

I think one of the reasons not many people whistle any more is because they're always listening to something else.

Can you imagine cleaning out the garage without your iPod plugged into your ears? Or going to the grocery store without the sound of canned music blasting in your ears and the "clean-up on aisle 8" being muttered over the intercom by a bored store employee?

Maybe it's time we learned to listen to ourselves more. When was the last time you hummed your own tune, or just whistled into the silence? When was the last time you were content with only the sound of your own thoughts? In the next month, I dare you to take at least an hour a day when you aren't plugged in.

Turn of the television. Your computer. Your iPad and iPod. Your CD player, your radio and your phone.

Spend a little more time listening to your own thoughts. By doing that, I think you'll probably begin to hear the solutions to the problems that have been nagging at you, to come up with creative ideas for work and maybe even find some peace in these stressful times....and begin whistling a much happier tune.

share






4 comments:

Alex Dogliotti said...

Hey Anita, it is true that people's minds get creative when are not stimulated by stuff. Two examples: one of the things that you learn early when you become a coach is the power of silence. You ask a question, the client doesn't answer immediately, your instinct is to speak again. If you shut up, the client will say something after a while, most of the time something very useful. Also, at work we're bombarded with daily tasks and it's easy to lose sight of the big picture because we simply don't have that space to fill with our own thoughts. Some companies implemented some 'you time' where you're free to develop your own initiatives for a certain amount of hours a week. I say that's a great thing to give you the opportunity to fill an empty space with productive creativity.
Nice post!

KEHutchinson said...

This made me laugh a lot! When I was in fifth grade, there were two things that everyone else could do that I couldn't: blow bubbles in bubble gum, and whistle. With a lot of perseverance, I managed to blow bubbles in my gum. Sadly, I have never been able to whistle, and I've never had a good explanation for why.

As for taking time to smell the roses, that's my new mantra on the weekends. On Friday night, I shut off my blackberry, put it away, and only touch the computer to play games. It makes a big difference in my life!

Anita said...

Kate,
I once decided I wanted to learn to whistle like those construction workers who can whistle so loud and shrilly. I decided to practice while on a long road trip. Long story short, I nearly blacked out huffing and puffing like that and decided I could just do a plain old whistle. Everyone has their limitations...:)

Alphonsus Isusu said...

Hi, Anita,
This is a great post. However, I use to whistle but now that I'm a bit older, I really find it difficult to even whistle. Why? I'm more occupied with office work load. Sometimes, when I close for work, I have to sit down to craft post for my blog. The other day, my wife was doing some washing and whistle. She reminds me of when I was in the village. She laughed. So, on a more serious note, to keep silence helps to think correctly. There's also need to ease off yourself more matter the workload.