I'm transcribing an interview for an attorney friend of mine. It was an interview of a seven-year-old little girl by a social worker. To help put the child at ease, the social worker prefaced the interview with some general questions to help establish rapport between the two of them. One of the questions was: "What do you like to do for fun?"
The little girl's response, in the sweetest, most straightforward voice, made me smile inside. Such innocence and sincerity from the mouths of babes...
Q Did you get to play in the snow yesterday? AYeah. My mommy build one snowman. I build two snowmans. And one of them was Lion King. QOne of them was Lion King? Oh, wow. I bet that was fun. AAnd sometimes for fun I like to also -- uh, when I get nervous I like to get out a reading book and read it because -- or, when I'm really, really nervous, I just go out -- I just look outside and it calms me down. And when I get so mad, I just get a coloring book and some crayons and color. Because coloring is like my thing.
I may have blogged about this once before -- my lines of memory are somewhat blurred. My Friday evening glass of wine may have a wee bit to do with that, but not entirely.
Musical Pictures. It was a distinct and vivid memory of kindergarten for me. In the early afternoon, just after lunch and "recess," we were asked to lie down on the floor on little mats -- yes, of course they were...little mats for little people -- and rest a bit while listening to music. Most of the time, at least as memory serves, it was classical music, or something similar. Always instrumental. This may have been my first exposure to classical (such a shame...INFANTS should be exposed at an early age to classical in my humble opinion).
After listening for about 20 minutes or so, we were then handed large sheets of sketching paper -- I remember it was sort of off white and sturdy... funny how we remember these details of life that leave lasting impressions -- and we were asked to illustrate with markers, paint, pencils or crayons the music that we were hearing. What did it call to our minds?
It was my favorite class.
To this day, I think about musical pictures all the time. I'll be driving down the road and hear a song and I think in images, the brush strokes of my mind filling in the details, whether fiction or reality. At times quite vivid detail. And for those few moments in time, I've escaped to that place in "my picture."
It's THIS part of my personality that most people may find a little wacko. But truth is, it's an INTEGRAL part of who I am. How we long to be understood, not misinterpreted. Because I'm NOT wacko. It's just who I am, who I've become over time. And these traits aren't always obvious...aren't always seen on the surface. In fact, mostly are not. But dare tap into my heart, scratch the surface a little, and you will likely find the deeper wacko side of me. The dreamer.
This artist, Ludovico Einaudi,
SUCH A BEAUTIFUL NAME, I want to repeat it over and over
has become one of my favorites.
I discovered him via Pandora about a year or so ago. I keep researching, sampling his music now and then. I hear most of it on my Windham Hill station of Pandora.
Arriving home late from work today, tired and thankful the week was finally over, I poured myself a glass of wine and clicked onto YouTube in search of some escape music. Release. And I found this.
Experience
Its seducing effect on me was deeply penetrating. An ushering of vivid musical pictures ...
Listen to Einaudi's "Experience" -- don't cheat yourself, listen all the way through, you won't regret the ebb and tide -- and indulge your mind's eye of illustrations. Abandon all other thoughts, problems, duties, commitments, rules ... as you let the music release you. Are you there yet? What do you see? Is it anything short of spectacular?
Go ahead. Breathe. Escape. It's Friday. It's time to exhale.
