The only creatures that should rattle are a certain type of snake. And they rattle with purpose. They rattle as a warning.

Some other words for rattle are clatter, clack, jangle, vibrate, jar, jolt…

There is no peace in these words.

In moments when a situation carries emotional intensity, sometimes a stillness falls and you become aware of all the external rattle surrounding you.

It’s like there is a buffer between you and all the noise. You can hear it, but you are not inside it.

I had this experience recently, standing on a railway platform in the evening sun.

Incubated by my experiences of that day I could hear snatched conversations

And in my moment of stillness everyone else seemed so worried, so concerned, so caught up.

Issues at work where there had been a misunderstanding.

Complaints about a partner who didn’t want to go to an event.

Outrage at the way someone had behaved at a party

Worry about whether an email might be received the wrong way.

All valid reasons to become unsettled.

All valid reasons for anxiety and irritation

And yet…

In a moment of clarity and of stillness it just sounded like everyone was rattling about.

A moment like that lends itself to a sense of deep understanding of something that can’t quite be named.

And a moment like that doesn’t last.

The everyday world pushes hard against that quiet place of contemplation, and your own personal jangling and jolting song picks up the pace. You are dancing again to its jerky rhythm.

But there are things you can do to tune it out.

I am making a conscious effort now to question myself about how I react to day-to-day events; after all I think we can choose where and on what we expend our energy.

Do I need to care so much about someone not returning a call? I have no control over whether they do or not, so why am I rattling about it?

Do I need to care so much about the washing up not being done when I get home?  I can do it or ask someone else to. Either way things will get cleared, so why am I rattling about it?

Do I need to care so much about a comment I’ve made that might be misconstrued? I have no idea whether it has been, so why am I rattling about it?

The list could go on, but you get the point. All the small ways that I get jolted and jarred as I go about a day, can be avoided.

Does this resonate with you?

If so, ask yourself two questions: What are the things that really matter? And what are the things that are in my control?

Rattling is a misdirection of attention.

Pausing, breathing and refocusing gets us back on track.

There is only one moment where it seems to me that rattling is natural.

And that is not when we are in the flow of life.