The Magic in the Music

What’s the magic in the music?
And why does it bring us together like this?
We all have a longing inside
And it keeps us singin’ song, after song, after song.
(from "The Best Song Ever," by Chris Rice)

Is there not something mystical about music? Are not the themes of rhythm, harmony, and melody metaphors for life's deepest truths? Have you never been part of a live concert that morphs into one body with one heart and one voice?

I remember hearing a story from a friend about a "Godspeed You! Black Emperor" concert being more spiritual than any church service ever experienced. I remember times of songwriting where I am completely out of the way and "it" quite literally writes itself. I've found that if nothing else breaks the ice, conversations about music will quite certainly do so.

YOUR TURN: What's one mystical/magical moment you've had in regards to music?

"After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music."
(Aldous Huxley)

Innovation

"If you're not failing every now and again,
it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative."

[Woody Allen]

"Spiritual" blogging...

... is inspirational encouragement - a way to share your life and reflections as a gift to others, those who read your words.

But there is virtually no substitute for actual practice and experience. Religion as we know it has far too long made spirituality a masculine, heady proposition - and blogging, too, lives in that realm.

Bring the attention out of the head, down into the body, live as a gift to others, and see if that doesn't make all the difference.

In Select Theaters This Fall: AWESOMENESS

Ok, let me get this straight: a Wes Anderson film starring Jason Schwartzman about a spiritual quest in India? I can't think of three cooler things in one sentence.

Click here for the trailer to The Darjeeling Limited

Glory Days of Mind Wasting

Had a few minutes last night and decided to look up some TV shows of ages past. A couple of these I haven't seen for AGES and it gives me crazy nostalgic feelings to see them again. Crescent fresh!

(the theme song to) SALUTE YOUR SHORTS (love this one)


SIFL & OLLY


PICTURES PAGES w/ BILL COSBY


THE STATE - "LEVON AND BARRY'S $240 WORTH OF PUDDING"


THE STATE - "THE LAST SUPPER FEATURING LOUIE"


OUT OF CONTROL

Start Small / Don't Push

Act without striving.
Work without interfering.
Find the flavor in what is flavorless.

Enlarge the small, increase the few.
Heal injury with goodness.

Handle the difficult while it is still easy.
Cultivate the great while it is still small.

All difficult things begin as easy things.
All great things begin as small things.

Therefore, the True Person never attempts anything great,
and accomplishes great things.

[from Tao Te Ching #56
Thomas Knierim, thebigview.com]

Be There / Mark Thy Calendars Now

Hunters Pub South - LAFAYETTE, IN

Not sure how I feel about this...

...though the Dancing one near the end looks kind of ok. (Lord, they're going to sell a jillioin of these things)

"Wii Fit" for the Nintendo Wii game system:


By the way, I'd assume the Yoga portion is a bit of a SHAM because you're not really going to do a full Yoga workout/experience all within a little square area (trying to imagine doing floor poses on that elevated pad) ... I guess we'll see.

Now THAT'S a cute kid

Exhale

Experiment: Take a deep, deep inhalation and once your lungs and belly are full, hold it. Hold it, feel the tension and the growing burn. A little longer. As long as you can.

And release.

That... that's it. Feel that? That's what the world needs. It's easy to get so damned involved with horizontal life - with all its anxieties and troubles and appointments and excitements - that you are knocked out of balance, all bloated with crap and needing to exhale. As I said in a previous post, it's a kind of contraction "anytime we live from the level of Ego. It's like a muscle tightening up when we desire something or get caught up in ourselves. It's relaxing that contraction that allows us to spread out, surrender, release..."

YOUR TURN: Books? Beer? Backrubs? Hot Baths? Yoga? Sex? Porch swings? Swimming? Bike riding? Dancing? Napping? Laughing? What helps YOU uncoil, expand, release and open?