The Whistler

All of a sudden she began to whistle. By all of a sudden I mean t hat for more than thirty years she had not whistled. It was so thrilling. At first I wondered, who was in the house, what stranger? I was upstairs reading, and she was downstairs. As from the throat of a wild cheerful bird, not caught but visiting, the sounds warbled and slid and doubled back and larked and soared.

Finally I said, Is that you? Is that you whistling? Yes, she said. I used to whistle, a long time ago. Now I see I can still whistle. And cadence after cadence she strolled through the house, whistling.

I know her so well, I think. I thought. Elbow and ankle.. Mood and desire. Anguish and frolic. Anger too. And the devotions. And for all that, do we even begin to know each other? Who is this I’ve been living with for thirty years?

This clear, dark, lovely whistler?

I just watched a Jim Carery movie last night, “Yes Man.” The story line had Jim saying “yes” to everything as a way to happiness. He had to say yes when people asked him to do something. This led him to experiment with new experiences and opened up his life to relationships and learning he might not have already had. The paradox was that by learning to say yes so often and so whole heartedly, he learned to say no. He came to lead a more authentic life based on his values of love and connection. So I am wondering where in my own life I am constricted and want to offer up an automatic yes or no, instead of stepping out unto this new day with an open heart that might respond with the choice of either yes I will or no I won’t. No matter the answer, my choices come from the heart. Who knows, that might even mean I return to the whistling of my child hood, or some other adventure that might just startle me and others around me into joyous harmony.

What might you say yes to today that you normally say no to?