The Moon Listens At Least

Most of you that know me will agree that I am a pretty quiet guy. I can go hours without talking and not be bothered. I tend to listen more in conversation than talk. I'm not saying anything about being dull or unassertive, Lord knows that could never be the case. I would bet that most people have never heard me raise my voice. I may cheer at a concert or something similar, but no one has heard me scream. I have, however, made an intriguing discovery recently.

Yelling helps me voice my problems.

One night, I just had this urge to yell, to break my quiet ways and just shout out loud. So, two thirty in the morning, I walked out to the Taylor prayer deck where no one could hear me, and started yelling. I spent an hour out there, pacing along the wooden platform, shouting at the moon. I wasn't cold, the dew didn't bother me, I wasn't afraid of being alone in the dark, there was nothing but what I was saying. When I was done, I felt better. The walk back to my dorm was filled a sense of acceptance, if nothing else.

For me, it was an amazing release. There was so much that had been built up in me. When I let loose, yelling to the sky, it was like my frustration was freed a little bit. The moon took it in stride. Of course, I don't actually mean the moon was listening, but it was my physical stand-in for God. It gave me a vocal target, a specific place to send my troubles. And with that, I think my relief came from two sides. The first part coming from the physical act of shouting, of letting loose. The second part comes from the fact that I could yell to God.

That is a distinction that I want to make. For all my frustration and questions, I was never yelling at God. I think that this is important. The people that yell at God, I believe, don't have the same relief that I had. I wasn't angry with him, just confused. When people yell at God, I feel that means you aren't trusting him, but when you yell to him, it means you need help.

Where I am going with this is pretty simple, everyone should have a release. Wouldn't it be great if we could have a valve that let you drain out whatever was bothering you? People are angry, that's just a part of life. Some people deal with it well. Others, like me, have some trouble. But in all, I think that there is a way for everyone to deal with stress and frustration in their own way. My friend Jessica walks fast everywhere she goes, that, she claims, is her stress reliever. So I yell, she fast walks, others exercise, some people are more destructive, but we all have our own methods. If we could all find that healthy way to deal, imagine what a happy society we could have.

Admittedly, if everyone yelled like me, no one could ever sleep.

Just something to chew on.