(Here's a draft I never published that I wrote about a month before I left. Not that interesting but eh. If you are seeing this you are probably bored right now. :) There are 4 more that I don't think are appropriate for posting to the whole web but if you want to read them just ask and I will email them to you. That's all.)
Resonance.
This is a word that I have known for a long time, but I remember one day in Natural Disaster Mitigation class understanding it in a new way. We were talking about earthquakes and how the ground motion (due to the earthquake waves) doesn't cause the same damage to every structure. It all has to do with the natural frequency of the building. Each structure has its own frequency, and when the ground motion is the same (or close) to that of the building, they are in resonance with one another.
Now in a building, this causes massive damage. We try to avoid resonance, if possible.
If you're confused, just think about how the windows rattle or the old speakers buzz when a certain pitch (frequency) is played. It isn't louder, it's just amplified because of that darned resonance thing.
Where am I going with this?
I think that we all have our own natural frequency, but with a positive spin. The times that our experience or the motions of our life resonate with us are where we have the most poignant moments. I think that these are different for all of us, but we can FEEL our souls awake.
I try to ignore these, because they don't quite fit with who I wish I could become. But there are certain melodies that cause me to stop in my tracks. It's as if they are ALMOST capturing the song that plays in my heart. The song that has no melody, but that is longing to burst out.
There are certain views that cause me to gasp and to want to soak in that beauty forever, that cause that song to start to play in the depths of me.
There are certain stories, certain ministries, certain moments, certain friends - they seem to catapult my soul into the eternal. And I never see them coming! I cannot create them, I cannot anticipate them, and I cannot prolong them. They come and go as they please, and I am left longing for that small glimpse yet again.
All the while, the person beside me is wondering why this crazy chick just got all silent and "melodious heart" like over the way a bright orange leaf has fallen on a rock. It didn't resonate with him.
While I cannot predict these moments, I can notice common threads. I get it more with single mothers, adoption in general, the fall season, songs in minor keys that are full of longing and anticipation, generosity, forgiveness, restoration, children who are at rest...walking in the pouring rain. Snow in general...
While sitting at a window with a book and a cup of tea on a rainy day makes me want to pull my hair out. :)
True story - I don't know where I'm going with this. This isn't a completed thought. But I do know that some things in life bring me to life. Some (read: engineering) make me want to pull a blanket over my head and hope to die in my sleep. I think that the best way to give life to the world is to put yourself in places where life flows through you.
I think I have found a few of those places, and I am going to figure out how to live my life in them. :)
Resonance.
This is a word that I have known for a long time, but I remember one day in Natural Disaster Mitigation class understanding it in a new way. We were talking about earthquakes and how the ground motion (due to the earthquake waves) doesn't cause the same damage to every structure. It all has to do with the natural frequency of the building. Each structure has its own frequency, and when the ground motion is the same (or close) to that of the building, they are in resonance with one another.
Now in a building, this causes massive damage. We try to avoid resonance, if possible.
If you're confused, just think about how the windows rattle or the old speakers buzz when a certain pitch (frequency) is played. It isn't louder, it's just amplified because of that darned resonance thing.
Where am I going with this?
I think that we all have our own natural frequency, but with a positive spin. The times that our experience or the motions of our life resonate with us are where we have the most poignant moments. I think that these are different for all of us, but we can FEEL our souls awake.
I try to ignore these, because they don't quite fit with who I wish I could become. But there are certain melodies that cause me to stop in my tracks. It's as if they are ALMOST capturing the song that plays in my heart. The song that has no melody, but that is longing to burst out.
There are certain views that cause me to gasp and to want to soak in that beauty forever, that cause that song to start to play in the depths of me.
There are certain stories, certain ministries, certain moments, certain friends - they seem to catapult my soul into the eternal. And I never see them coming! I cannot create them, I cannot anticipate them, and I cannot prolong them. They come and go as they please, and I am left longing for that small glimpse yet again.
All the while, the person beside me is wondering why this crazy chick just got all silent and "melodious heart" like over the way a bright orange leaf has fallen on a rock. It didn't resonate with him.
While I cannot predict these moments, I can notice common threads. I get it more with single mothers, adoption in general, the fall season, songs in minor keys that are full of longing and anticipation, generosity, forgiveness, restoration, children who are at rest...walking in the pouring rain. Snow in general...
While sitting at a window with a book and a cup of tea on a rainy day makes me want to pull my hair out. :)
True story - I don't know where I'm going with this. This isn't a completed thought. But I do know that some things in life bring me to life. Some (read: engineering) make me want to pull a blanket over my head and hope to die in my sleep. I think that the best way to give life to the world is to put yourself in places where life flows through you.
I think I have found a few of those places, and I am going to figure out how to live my life in them. :)