Inspired by Radiohead (1997). Lull [Song]. B-Side to Karma Police. XL Recordings Ltd.
I once had the privilege of leading a workshop on stress. As a group we were able to share our stories and understandings and explore the common theme that one of the causes of our stress is our own (mis)focus and emotional response. Reflecting on the session reminded me of a line from the Radiohead song Lull. The lyric speaks of the stress that comes from what are in effect irrelevant distractions.
Thinking about the lyrics there seemed to be a profound truth to the idea that whilst we face many real stressors in our lives, we are also often prone to becoming distracted and focused on things which, when considered, are actually irrelevant to the main thrust of our lives. We can easily major in the minors and minor in the majors, so to speak.
The song speaks of the trance-like state we can begin to feel in these situations as we try to break free but get caught in a trap just focusing on self. We become bored with our own company and the stress can begin to trigger a state of depression.
Whilst the song doesn’t offer any positive alternative, I think if we reconsider our original lyric, we might find something useful. Distracted by irrelevance. This leads to two thoughts; distraction and relevance.
When we are feeling low, the simple act of positive distraction can help us to make the changes needed for us to begin to see things afresh, contextualise and re-evaluate. Spending time watching a programme that will make us laugh, listening to a song which brings positive feelings, or just spending time with a friend doing something that distracts your thinking. Things that take our mind away from the previous line of thinking can begin to act as a catalyst to enable us to start to deal with our stressors.
Then there is relevance. Once we are in a position where we can consider afresh, we can begin to set the issue in the context of just how important, or perhaps more frequently, how controllable the concern is. Is there anything we can do in this situation? Is it a case of acceptance, or is it a case of highlighting the changes we CAN actually make?
So, let’s find positive distractions this coming week which will help us to refocus on the relevant decisions we face.
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