Sound and Integrity: An invitation to follow through

Again and again, I'm in awe of how music, sound and instruments support me in understanding themes and issues of our humanness in a deeper, yet often very simple way. Right now, Integrity keeps on showing up: Integrity as our ability - and conscious choice - to stay true and consistent to ourselves and our values, to take self-responsibility for our actions and to be honest, both to ourselves and to those around us.

So, from the viewpoint of sound, how can we access integrity?

When we strike a string, a gong, a singing bowl, whatever instrument, or make a tone with our voice: The sound unfolds. It simply does not negotiate. Once the vibration is set in motion, it makes its way through space according to its own laws and principles - unless we stop it. The sound doesn’t hesitate just because the resonance might demand something from it. It doesn’t soften or shrink in order to stay comfortable or to fit in. It simply completes what it begins.

And we, as humans, we set things in motion all the time. We speak intentions, we touch insights, we make plans. We attend workshops, we read books, we have moments of clarity about who we are, what we want to change and how the world could be different. It’s like a note is struck inside of us. And for this moment, it feels so alive, so full of potential and so true.

And then – do we listen? Do we follow the resonance? Do we keep unfolding with the tone itself?

I believe that often, we simply lose the thread. Not because we don't know what to do, but because following the tone, letting it unfold, would require change. Responsibility. Discomfort. Action. It would ask for reorganization – of our lives, of relationships and of priorities.

So, instead of moving with resonance and dance the vibes, we stay with the knowing of the very moment we struck the note.

In sound, interrupting a vibration doesn't make it disappear, but it creates disturbance and dissonance. Noise. And it's a bit the same with our human systems: When insight is not integrated, when values are not embodied, and when we stay in ideas rather than living them in practice, the result is fragmentation.

Integrity doesn’t mean being spiritually advanced, being “good” or doing something “right”. It simply means being honest with ourselves and the notes we strike. Allowing ourselves to finish what we've started, and to adjust on the way if necessary. It means staying with the consequences of our words, choices and visions. We can chose not to strike a certain note at all, or we listen to the resonance we create and respond honestly when it's out of tune.

The more we understand and access the vastness of our consciousness, individually and collectively, we might not necessarily need more awareness in these times, but more willingness and diligence to follow through.

We don't need more concepts, more language, more declarations of what should change. We need people willing to live what they already know - even when it's inconvenient and uncomfortable. Even when it takes courage and consistency and when it challenges consensus. And it doesn’t always need to be the very big decisions. It's a question of how we act, think and live when nobody witnesses. When we are completely honest with ourselves.

Sound teaches us incredibly direct: We don't create harmony by avoiding vibration, but by meeting it with presence and responsibility. And maybe we even have to let go of what we feel “harmony” should sound and look like.

Maybe the question is no longer so much about what we want to create.

Maybe the question is whether we have the courage to be coherent enough to sustain and live it.

Not someday. Not once things feel safe. Not when we feel ready. But right now, while the sound is already unfolding – are we willing to follow it?