I was visiting a friend in Los Angeles. It was the middle of the night. I was comfortably tucked in my sheets and more than ready to drift off into a good night’s rest.
Suddenly I heard a choppy sound approaching from a distance. It was a helicopter, and it was getting closer and closer. Finally it reached our street, hovered for a moment, then moved on and circled above the streets nearby. After a while it returned, hovered some more, and moved on again.
I rested my head on the pillow, listening to the rotating blades. At times the rotating sound faded away; at times it was coming closer. It was very soothing.
Soothing!
That really took me by surprise. I would have expected all kinds of feelings, but not soothing.
All I heard was chop chop.
A soothing chop chop chop chop chop chop …
My mind didn’t react to what I was hearing. I was not judging, complaining, assuming, or fearmongering. I was just listening.
I’m pretty sure, had I allowed my imagination to run wild, I would have evoked
– rage, thinking that the noise was keeping me from falling asleep.
– fear, assuming that the cops were looking for a dangerous criminal.
– despair, brooding about society breeding felonies.
– homesickness, convinced it was much safer and quieter back home.
– disappointment, because it was not advisable to go for a walk when a police helicopter was hovering above the neighborhood. Not that I would have wanted to go for a walk. But if I had wanted to, I wouldn’t have been able to. And that was soooo disappointing.
For reasons unknown to me, that night I did not ruminate about this, that, or the other. I only listened to the sound of the blades. And that opened a whole different and quite amicable world to me.
I never would have thought that a sleeping remedy might sound like this – paid for by the taxpayers and all. Maybe the next time I’m in desperate need of some soothing comfort, I’ll just wait until the cops come. 🤭 😉
Brigitte Schneider
aka Ms. Chop-Chop
Copyright © 2022, Brigitte Schneider. If you wish to quote text from this article contact the author by leaving a comment.
