Family Matters
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Are You A Cymbal Or A
Violin?
by Janet Tubbs
ave you ever thought that when 
we talk with other
people, we're creating music? Our voices are the
instruments of our personality and conversations become
symphonies, complete with lilting flutes, soft strings,
staccato drums, and clashing symbols. Too many drums and
cymbals can cause irritation and most people get tired of
nothing but strings. If you think about this, a family
needs to work together to create a pleasant and
harmonious environment.
Few of us think about the effect of our words, yet when we realize that our voices create sound waves that ripple outwards until they hit something—usually another person—we become more conscious of what we say and how we say it.
In ordinary life, we're surrounded by
sounds, most of which we block out. If we didn't, we
would be 
bombarded
with noise; it would affect us physically, mentally,
emotionally, and spiritually to the point that we
couldn't function.
It takes concentrated effort to isolate different sounds and tones that are in our proximity, and when children sit quietly, they may be surprised to discover they can hear the hum of the florescent lights, the chirp of a cricket in the next room, the tick of the clock, and outside noises such as cars, dogs barking, sirens, and children laughing.
Children should be encouraged to listen
to
the
sounds of nature. Bees, hummingbirds, waterfalls, and
owls all have their own type of music and it's fun to
discover that even a rippling brook produces several
tones as it moves faster or slower over different sized
rocks.
Ask your child to list all the things that he can hear or feel that have rhythm.
For example:
- the ticking of a clock
- his heartbeat
- breathing
- a pendulum
From there, it's a short step to
introducing the rhythm of nature: the ebb and flow of
tides, blooming and fading of flowers, the rhythm of the
season, the moon as it waxes and wanes.
When children learn that experiments with plants have shown that growth is increased by soft voices and music, and that plants actually lean towards the source of classical music, they'll have a greater understanding of the need to think before speaking.
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Janet Tubbs is founder and president of Children’s Resource Center, in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is also one of the Founders of VegSource. Her column, Family Matters, is a regular feature of VegSource On-Line Magazine.
You can visit Janet's home page by clicking on this link: