Resonance

What is resonance, exactly? Depending on whether you're referring to phonetic, physical or electrical qualities resonance can have different meanings. It can be related to amplitudes, vibrations, or frequency. In terms of sound resonance refers to the prolongation or repetition of a particular pitch or tone; a reverberation. Speaking more spiritually or metaphorically the definition is similar though it's application is much broader than sound. It's something that sticks with you and affects you. It can be a person, place or experience that moves or influences you in a profound way. Often times something that resonates most strongly with a person is something that defies rationality, convenience or practicality. It takes us beyond our thinking brains and down into our body centers, into the midst of our central and peripheral nervous systems to fully engage all of our senses and emotions. It is down here in our sacred core where we allow ourselves to get carried away, to be awakened and feel most alive because we are engaging our entire bodies rather than hiding away in a small section of our brains.

When I decided to leave New York City a little over a year and a half ago - leave my apartment, my job, my friends, what little furniture I did have, my life as I knew it at that point - it was because of an experience of resonance.

I can still recall the moment in full clarity - that is how strongly my experience resonated with me. I had been trying to decide whether I should leave the city and move to Colorado and my way of trying to rationalize the move was by exploring grad school. I flew to Colorado to tour the campus, meet the faculty and do everything a good prospective student should do, yet I kept asking myself the same questions over and over again. Is this really what I want? Am I making the right decision? Should I move here or stay in the city? Visiting the school didn't answer any of these questions for me. Something else did.

I stood in the middle of campus after my day long visit, repeating the questions to myself and feeling utterly unsatisfied by my mind's half-hearted responses. My attention and my gaze left campus and traveled to the rust colored Flatirons and surrounding foothills before me. I looked a the mountains for a split second and in that instant I knew what my decision would be. Of course I would move here. I didn't know about grad school, I didn't know about my career or so many other unknowns, but I felt absolutely certain that I belonged here close to the mountains.

Here I am, two years after that defining moment, a year and a half after becoming a resident of Colorado, and I still have that same immovable sense of belonging. I am now on a quest to discover resonance in other areas of my life - in relationships with friends and family, in my quest to discover my career, in finding a companion and lover, in day to day moments that remind me I am alive and life is beautiful. I am searching for resonance in all areas of my life and hoping if I open myself up to it it will find me and stay with me a while.