Did you ever watch the TV show “Name that Tune?” It was popular decades ago, and its revival is now, I’ve discovered, on YouTube. It’s a game show where the contestant’s challenge is to name a song’s title after hearing only a few bars of it played.
I thought of it today when I got infected with an ear worm. Ear worms aren’t the kind of worms that you find crawling through your grass or on the sidewalk after a rain. In fact, they’re not worms at all. They’re the name of the phenomenon where you get a song or a few phrases of a song repeating in your head over and over.
Luckily, when I noticed what was happening, I remembered the trick for stopping it. There’s a couple of them, but what works best for me iis getting busy at a task that requires a little bit of concentration. The next best is repeating a single syllable over and over to interrupt the circuitry.
Later, when I realize my action had worked, I got to thinking about how ear worms are kind of like the stories we play in our heads, repeating them over and over. Like songs, our “story-worms” have an emotional component. Suppose you’re upset by something that’s happened in your life.
You keep playing its song over and over, as if it would somehow change if you focused on it enough. You start to look for supporting evidence of why you’re right to feel the way you do. And sure enough, examples come to you, and your song has even more layers and depth.
That’s how story-worms work. And here’s how to short-circuit them.
First, you have to “name that tune.” You have to recognize that a story-worm is playing in your brain. Maybe its song is a sad one about loss or limitation. Maybe it’s one that thunders with anger, or buzzes with irritation. Call it out. Notice it. If you can, name the emotion. If you can’t find its name, figure out where you feel it in your body. Does it have a color? A texture? A weight? See it for what it is–a feeling about the song that you’re repeating in your mind. Then decide to interrupt it.
You can use the same techniques that work for ear worms. Get busy with something that requires a some attention. Set an intention: When I finish this, I will be free to see the world in a whole new light. Then do something. Do a crossword puzzle, draw a picture, do some math, or get physical and see how many push-ups or jumping jacks you can do. Be inventive. Press your thumbs against each finger on your hands one at a time while you count to one hundred with each tap–and smile as you do it.
If you’re not up to any of those, try saying “blah-blah-blah-blah-blah” to yourself over and over whenever the story-worm starts crawling through your mind.
Even if you believe your story is important and true, hearing it play endlessly is a real drag. It wastes your time and energy. It keeps you from hearing the songs of love, and trust, and faith, and possibilities that are just waiting to be heard. It’s just a matter of naming the tune and then turning your dial to a different station.
Wishing you endless beautiful melodies,
Warmly,
Susan
Image by Harut Movsisyan from Pixabay