Finally, we are home after wandering up the East Coast of Australia. We enjoyed being with our friends, family and the fantastic scenes that nature freely gifts us. I re-read Michael Singers’ “The Untethered Soul” in my spare time. I read it back in 2007 and was swept up by its simple truth – the voice….

Now, more than ever, it is essential to find ways to rest and restore your nervous system, not only as a way to manage traumatic stress and core soul – exhaustion, but to be able to live in the outer world of flux, chaos and drama without being flattened by it.

“There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind — you are the one who hears it.” M Singer

The first time I read this, I thought, “Wow, I think he’s right.” And then I thought, “Wait, what’s the voice he’s talking about!”

It Is Really Me?

It’s startling to realize that nothing the voice has ever said is “you.” It’s simply a voice. Sometimes it says nice things, and sometimes it says not-so-nice things, and we wonder which of the voices is who we are. We hope it says nice things, wise things, compassionate things. We hope it’s not the one that puts us down, that says we shouldn’t even try, that says other people are better than us.

But as Michael Singer says: the voice isn’t who you are. None of the voices is who you are. Nothing the voice has ever said is more you than anything else it’s said. It’s just a voice. You are the one who hears the voice; you’re the one who’s aware there’s a voice; you’re the one who notices it when it talks.

What does this mean for actual growth? It means that you can finally stop getting lost in it and stop struggling to control it.

You are the one who hears it which means you are the one who can choose to listen to it or not. The voice is the TV, and you’re the electricity; if it isn’t plugged in, the TV can’t work.it