Weekend Musing: Of Ear worms, Salt Air, Morning Mists, and Soul Soothers
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Every now and then, all of us I guess have a continuous insistent loop playing in our head! Could be the opening bars of a musical piece, a song, or, like me, phrases or a word or a question that you know the answer to but can’t recollect! I discovered there is a term for this phenomenon: “earworm.”
?“Salt Air for the Soul” has been my earworm this past week. It was triggered by a hallway conversation with a colleague. Was it the elusive rhyme of that phrase that does injustice to the sublime meaning?
It doesn’t roll off the tongue like “Easy does it” or “Slow and steady wins the race” – there is a certain cadence to those phrases, rolling off your tongue as if they were meant to be lined up together.
This earworm was quite persistent until I woke up this morning with an epiphany! “Salt Air soothes my Soul” – it has a nice rhythm, alliteration (salt, soothe/soul), and balance! I turned the phrase around, examined it in my mind like a physical object, and slowly, with bated breath, let it roll off my virtual tongue.
Phew, it slid smoothly and with it my ear worm loop ended.
?Relieved, I let that settle in, feeling pleasure akin to having remembered a long-forgotten memory or, more physically, the satisfying sensation of scratching that persistent itch. With the earworm soothed, I turned that phrase around – do all of us have “airs,” I mean environs, that soothe our soul?
?With that urge settled, I stepped out of my house at an unearthly early Sunday hour to let my persistent four-legged companion out. I was enveloped by the classic Pacific Northwest early morning gray misty dewy overcast sky, cold crisp air, I involuntarily looked up, smiled and felt a warmth from within grow.
?And the phrase “Misty morning messes my mind” popped into my head!
Is this Misty Morning the Salty Air equivalent for my soul!
?A misty, dewy overcast morning seems to have set in motion a happy confluence of emotions. Maybe the misty, dewy cold crisp air reminds my soul of home, where I grew up in the southern hills of India. The misty morning floods my psyche with all those warm pleasant memories of school, family, and the early morning trudge to school, my consciousness piercing through my sleep, and my body walking through the clearing mist!
?Or was my body reacting to a sudden cold gust of air! I will never know or maybe I don’t want to.
?What is your soul soother? Is that even a thing, or is that the rambling of a half-sleep-addled brain, getting ready for another work week?
CHRO, Enabling Business through People Views expressed are personal !
2 天前Reading this one has been a soul soother Elango R ! :) With videos, couplets and knowledge nuggets in one paragraph bombarding LinkedIn these days, this one was a refreshing piece..as I said, soul soother !
Sr. Director @ Aspire Systems | Cloud Transformation, AI/ML, GenAI | Innovation | Deal Maker
2 天前Your writing transported me back to Bangalore outdoors in 80s & those Gulmohar tress … keeping writing!
Senior Vice President & Startup Mentor
3 天前What a great write up Elango. Compelled me to think and the imagery that came to mind is Early Morning smell of the dew filled grass as you stand on the first tee and ‘twang’ sound that the Driver makes when you hit that first crisp shot. Makes your day ??.
Solutions Architect at Mphasis
4 天前Any place outdoors (preferably without phone). I can very much relate to the "earworm". Your article did trigger a lot of memories. ??
A thoughtful and compelling piece Elango. My soul soother is the beach with rolling surf and the smell of redwood forests. The beach is easiest for me to reach. I was just there yesterday in the cold and wind, walking my own four-legged companion. It brings me peace and clarity. But now I can't get the term earworm out of my head!