Hello, I’m Dr. Anita Johnston. And I am here in Hawaii listening to the bird song of the morning. It’s one of the most spectacular things — to listen to these birds singing and singing and singing. It reminds me about the story about the Nightingale.
There was once this nightingale, who was in the forest. And she was singing and singing and singing, really enjoying the sound of her song reverberating through the tree tops. Along came a crow. And the crow said, oh my gosh, would you cut that racket? That’s just the worst thing I’ve ever heard. You’re polluting the forest. And the nightingale said, no, no, no, we nightingales, we are known for our beautiful song.
And the crow said, I don’t think so. That’s just the worst thing I’ve ever heard. And they began to argue. Along came a pig. The pig said, listen, I’m a connoisseur of fine music. Why don’t we have a contest and I’ll be the judge?
So the nightingale sang her song. And the crow cawed. And then, the pig immediately declared the crow the winner. At which point the nightingale burst into tears. The crow said, I can’t believe you. Not only are you a horrible singer, but you’re a lousy loser.
And the nightingale said, oh, I’m not crying because I lost. I’m crying because a pig was my judge.
You see, what does a pig know about music? So, consider the source. You see, because a woman’s song is her truth. In order to be free from disordered eating, a woman must realize the beauty of her song. And refuse to sacrifice it.
Even in times of scarcity. Even when others insist that she be silent. Because a woman’s song is her truth. And it’s beautiful. If you don’t sing your song, if you don’t allow the truth of who you really are to come forward, what happens is that that truth tries to get expressed in other ways.
If you happen to struggle with eating or weight obsessions, or yo-yo dieting, or food restriction, or whatever it happens to be, then that becomes your song. It becomes a way of trying to express the truth, that for whatever reason, you can’t put into words. .
So I’m going to invite you to join the birds here in Hawaii as they sing. As they sing their song. And I’m going to invite you to allow your truth, to allow the beauty of your song, to come forth.
I would love to hear your thoughts, share in the comments below!
Aloha.
Till next time,
Anita
Dr. Johnston, I love this, and your timing is also great! My new ‘theme song’ is ‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley.. ‘Don’t worry about a thing..Every little thing is gonna be alright.’ I believe that some of us believe that if we use our ‘voice’ it won’t be ‘alright’ or acknowledged. We believe that others will not care or understand us. We undervalue our true gifts (or let the ‘audience’ decide what is OF VALUE, regardless of whether or not they even understand our gifts). Those of us who are overly sensitive truly don’t want to ‘be a bother’ to anyone. I was told by a 79 year old therapist that She believes that we are often ‘under the radar kids.’ We then decide that being ‘under the radar’ is better than singing loudly or making waves. The ‘crying nightingale’ would internalize instead of taking actions steps to let her voice be heard. And the ‘crow’ might also store up that knowledge for future use. 😉 Thanks so much for sharing and for understanding! I love your book, and have even spoken about segments in it with my counselor (who loves metaphor as much as I do). Take care!