PhotoCredit: FireTruck
We have an adorable almost-thirteen week old puppy in our lives. I say adorable, which he is ... for 5 minutes before and after he wakes up. The rest of the day he is either sleeping or veeeerrrrryyyyy busy. Busy with the curtains. Busy behind the mirror (that one makes my heart stop). Busy with the laundry. Busy doing unwanted carpentry on our furniture. BUSY!
So when he sleeps, we relax. We are not on active “where’s the puppy” duty. Our work is dictated by him sleeping. We get him in his crate and get him settled and creep out of the room and slowly, quietly, shut the door. We even turn the fan up to create white noise for him. We mean business.
And then, inevitably, a fire engine speeds by. Sirens blaring. Horn blasting. I have a moment of panic, and listen, but the little dude sleeps right on through it. He’s a true West Hollywood dog. When we eventually get him out to the countryside I am sure the quiet will keep him awake. We are raising a city-dog.
We get a lot of fire engines passing by our house. Sirens and horns blasting as they navigate through unforgiving LA traffic. Day and night. Sometimes way too late at night. There is a necessary communication of urgency. A warning. An alarm. They are designed to blast into the consciousness of distracted drivers. Designed to penetrate absent minds.
Lately there have been a lot of sirens. The alarm has become alarming. As I worry less about my little guy sleeping, I worry about my city. Chipping little pieces from my heart. My mind races. Fire engines are usually first on scene; I hope no one is hurt too badly.
It's not healthy, or helpful, to induce a state of universal worry at this increased frequency. So I have been retraining myself with breathwork and mindfulness. Trying to exchange my fight or flight reaction for awareness and ease.
There are so many places in our lives where we induce a stress response. Little sounds, certain times of day, or comments from our colleagues and loved ones that knock us from happily going about our day to melting into a state of anxiety. Anxiety that messes with our minds and our bodies. Anxiety that leads to distraction, fear and sadness. A very unproductive loop.
How could you shift your response to a trigger? Can you learn to breathe in a moment that induces anger, panic, frustration or alarm? We can take inspiration from firefighters themselves who are trained to have a non-stress response to an emergency. They know that they need to stay level-headed so they can assess and address the situation that awaits them. And while breathing works, so does putting on some noise cancelling headphones. Silencing your phone. Turning off notifications. Or, as a friend of mine suggested, mentally tell the annoying person to socially distance and “far cough” (say it out loud). Then laugh to yourself. That works too.