Eric Patrick Marr

We are shaped by the words (sounds) we hear and the words (sounds) we live.

Think of those times you are outside in your yard, working or relaxing. You hear the hum of the air conditioning unit - and you think nothing of it.

Most everyone in my generation, in my socio-economic demographic, was shaped to A) get a degree B) get a white collar job C) get married and have kids. Almost all of us did.

Those words were never questioned – we thought nothing of it.

But now think of that moment when the air conditioner cuts off. You know that awkward silence that lasts for 2-4 seconds? Where you almost miss the A/C’s hummmmmmm?

The next time you’re out there, notice your brain.  Even after the A/C cuts off, your mind still hears that hummmmmm……

The echo lives in your head.

The same is true in life.  The words (sounds) that people have spoken about you, to you and of you – even though they were spoken long ago – live in your head. Echoes.

The words (sounds) you have spoken and imagined of yourself also echo in your head.

Words (sounds) like:

“You are ___________.”  (For good or for bad.)

“You can ____________, but you cannot ___________.” (Multiple applications for this one.)

“Who do you think you are?!?!”

“That is impossible.”

“Go after the unbeaten path? That’s very frightening, very risky (but secretly, and we’ll never tell you this, we all wish we had the courage to do it, to take the plunge).”

Metaphor: make sure whatever sounds (words) you hear in your head, they are real and not just echoes from the past.