I am half mental. Wait, I know it’s not a nice way to start the post, but truth be told before I begin, right?
Aren’t you wondering why would someone ever sit down and discuss about untangling some random wind chime strings?
I can talk to you about it. This question actually came to me recently when I untangled the wind chime strings at home. Until then, it was merely a task I enjoyed. Maybe it’s just the focus and the flow that I enjoy when I detangle each string from the other. Or it could also be the fact that I am a confused soul who has lots of things going on in my mind and this helps me relax and see one thing at a time.
Approximately in the last twenty years, we’ve had almost 10 wind chime strings at home. Yes, most were gifts. If I remember right, my sister bought one from it. I love the serenity that surrounds as they chime against each other. It’s so calming at the same time it breaks some walls within me. Most times I am soothed easily by them that my ears and mind opens to their sweet sound when I visit places. Have you noticed the strings, the balls and other props used to make these? My sister was gifted one sometime in the last couple of years. It had an Eiffel tower and two giant balls and lovely bells. Not sure if the chaos within made it the sweetest sound or if it’s the sweetest I’ve heard in a while. I demanded it be close enough so I hear it as I sleep.
Much to my surprise, she tied it in a strong string inside the bedroom and right above the bed. I still remember the tune. The bad thing though is that my daughter was the first one to jumble this whole structure. Yes, you read that right. I never wanted to believe it. A 2.5 year old who is growing up everyday and I didn’t have the slightest idea she’d reach it by now. Tada, it happened within my reach and I couldn’t do anything but watch with shock (I don’t mouth wtf words anymore out loud, but wtf was on my mind). The grin on her face like she achieved something on her own was inevitable. Only I couldn’t explain to her that it is supposed to make that noise on it’s own and it does not need someone’s help to make it.
Forget it, I am there to detangle it! I looked at the tangled chime. I just couldn’t do anything there at that moment. Later, after days, I was upset about something and wanted to throw everything out. That’s when this tangled chime caught my eyes. I was chaotic and so was she.
Terribly tangled,
unable to enjoy the moment,
almost unable to perform her concert,
her purpose long gone.
I just sat and started to detangle the string one by one. It was like I spoke with my own struggles, those which lay underneath with no answers, to find again some of my own decisions left behind without knowing a way to go, to find the next step, just one step forward and closer to something I always wanted. These strings were nothing in comparison to what’s going on in my life, but they helped me see things differently. Just detangling from my own web of fear, discomfort, misfortune, guilt, to a place where I can just let my doubts settle down with time.
To detangle the strings and hear them wind chime strings again is like getting connected with some part of me I lost during a race to please/impress others. Finding myself is like finding an old memory covered in dust. You just don’t worry about the dust, the photo is more precious and still etched deep within you. Sometimes I think it is just some random strings attached to one another, connected by something equally weird and making some noises that cause annoyance. However, I cannot. It’s not the screechy noise that comes when we mix with a spoon in a stainless steel vessel. Phew, that’s horrific, though it’s a everyday noise. This is the sweetest of dreams that you’d like to remember.
I think once in a while why I never bought a wind chime if I like it so much. Maybe there was always one around or I never really felt I had a perfect place for it in the house. I’ve never made a place for it around too. It would hang in the living room for a while and then it would get entwined with the webs. That’s when I would notice it. I don’t want to have mine jumbled like this. So, someday I’ll buy it when I feel there’s a place for it. Until then, I’d do it with the ones we have.
Do you enjoy the wind chime tunes? Do you have one at home? What calms your mind?
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Honestly, I am not too fond of those noise making devices. They actually disturb my train of thought and most of the ones I have heard have had pretty unpleasant sounds. But I can understand the calmness that untangling one can bring about. I have done the same quite a few number of times with my daughter’s earphones. This might seems simple in comparison, I wish I had a photograph to show just how tangled she used to manage to get them!
Yes I can relate this to the earphones too. I get it Jyothi. Totally.?
I used to love wind chimes once upon a time when I was studying probably in college. Then gradually it disturbed the silence or I feared it would wake up my daughter.
You connected your thoughts well with the chime.
Thanks a lot Geet.
I do love chimes… I find them calming.
Yes Damayanti. It’s the same for me.
Oh I used to really love having wind chimes in my house all the time. Like you, I too love its serene sounds and would be thrilled to hear them whenever the wind blew through them. Sadly, in Gurgaon I no longer am able to hang them due to the strong gales that have started to blow here. All the raging dust storms and all just wreck havoc on them and one by one they have all broken up and disintegrated. Many a times, I have thought of buying some more but then I resist.
I can imagine the glee on your daughter’s face as she must have reached for them. All kids love mobile things and this one made sounds too. Hope they are all detangled and you have had some sort of peaceful reprise via that exercise.
I love wind chimes. I like how you compared detangling them to the process of sorting out your thoughts…Sometimes, it’s the mundane things that help to calm us and keep us sane.
How beautifully you have connected your thoughts with detangling. Love the flow of your words. Kids I tell you. The always give you that naughty smile after doing something disastrous. Actually if you like detangling then maybe I should give you all my neck pieces to detangle. Detangling them makes me lose my peace. ?
Honestly, as pretty as I think they look I do not like the sounds they make. Something ominous about it. I do have quite a few chimes at home, but I have strategically placed it where they just sit and look pretty and not make any noise 😛
I’m not much of a detangler either, more so because I do not let anything get tangled. One of my quirks.
Once upon a time, I used to love wind chimes. I loved their soft chiming sounds. I bought one in my pre-marital days which was almost 15 years ago. I may have left my parents’ house long ago but it still hangs in my mother’s living room even after 2 oe 3 house changes my parents have made. D did try to hang from it once but couldn’t manage to as it was high up for him.
You know each one us is weird in our own ways and each one of us has some quirk which enables us to detangle our thoughts and straighten them out one at a time. Mine would be sorting and cleaning herbs like coriander and methi.
It was a nice write-up with words consistently flowing and connecting.
I hate tangles though I enjoy untangling them. As for wind chimes, I find them annoying as hell.