Today I was not feeling very well. To keep me going in the tasks I had to do, I used music. I was listening to music on my iPod and singing (very off key) to keep me going through sweeping and manure shovelling. It definitely works. When I listen to music, I focus on the music, not on discomfort or the dreariness of the task at hand. It's like the beat in the music tells my body to keep going and not lie down on the ground and sleep. It pushes me forward and keeps me going.
Making music is also rejuvenating. Usually, playing the flute or the drums makes me more happy and harmonious. It's like there is something inside me that is fighting to get out. It can take different forms when it finally gets out of me. I could improvise on the flute, write a melody or a song, paint a picture, write a poem, write a story (though that hardly ever happens), or take photographs. I am sure there are many other creative outlets I could use, but these were the ones that sprang to mind.
I reflected over it today: what would I do if I was stranded on a desert island? No music, no books, no internet. Of course, first I would make it a priority to make or get the things that would keep me alive. Then I think I would eventually find the music of the nature around me. The waves beating the shore with an unsteady rhythm. The sound of the wind in the trees. The sounds of the living creatures, singing me to sleep and waking me up. Then I would discover the stories the island had to tell. I would probably flesh them out in my imagination, but I would discover signs, like small notes passed in a classroom. An old notch in a tree, a broken branch, patterns in the sand, signs of creatures going about their business. I would begin to piece it all together, in a great tapestry of life where everything has its place and order. I would eventually fit myself into the big artwork the island would be, and live in relative harmony with nature there.
At least this is what I hope would happen. I know I am not as open to the music of life and nature as I should be, but I hope I will be someday. I wish I could greet every creature as my brother, and live with nature instead of battling nature was much as I do now. My dream is to feel at peace and one with nature. I hope I will continue on that journey my whole life. It's the journey that matters. Not the final destination.
Books read: 18
Pages read: 4852
Showing posts with label drumming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drumming. Show all posts
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Monday, 25 April 2011
24. Church and humming birds
I went to a local church today. It lies in Chateau (which is what we call Chateaubelair), and I went together with one of my friends from here. It was raining heavily when we left, so I was happy that we were driven to the church. The service was nice, but it dragged out a bit. We were singing for an hour, and it was nice, but it was a bit loud, with people shouting (or singing really loud) into the microphones. I knew only a few of the songs, so it was a bit hard to follow, but the drummer was really good.
When we were finished singing, the pastor took over to preach about how this day (Easter Day) we celebrate that Jesus was resurrected, but this also means that we have been resurrected from our old life. A sentence that was repeated a lot was: "You are ALIVE!" (in different forms, the personal pronoun varying between 'he', 'we', and 'you'). It made me think of Shrek 2 (where they create a huge gingerbread man and makes it come alive) which again is a reference to the Frankenstein monster (I think, even though I almost don't know anything about it). This I did after a while, when it became hard to follow what the preacher was saying because I was tired and it takes some concentration for me to understand every word in the local English accent.
After the service was finished, we visited some friends of my companion, and they gave us food and water. The food was very nice, and we talked a lot. By this time it had stopped raining, and the sun was shining. After a long while talking and eating, the lady we were visiting fixed a ride for us back home. That was nice, after all I was quite tired (and I didn't really fancy a forty minute walk in the sun).
Later, Kristina asked me if I wanted to go and pick some wax apples with her. I was up for a snack, so I joined her. The wax apple field is where the sheep have recently been moved. We didn't see much to the sheep, but we found a lot of wax apples. Wax apples are fruits that are crunchy like apples, have a thin but wax-like skin, are pink when ripe, are pear-formed, have no core, and are delicious. I like them very much.
Flitting to and fro between the wax-apple trees were hummingbirds that looked black. At first I couldn't find out where the loud, deep buzzing was coming from, but then I saw them. They are beautiful, mesmerising creatures: tiny birds with long, thin beaks who drink nectar from flowers. They beat their wings really fast, and can stand still in the air. I am amazed once again at the wonders of nature.
Books read: 18
Pages read: 4816
When we were finished singing, the pastor took over to preach about how this day (Easter Day) we celebrate that Jesus was resurrected, but this also means that we have been resurrected from our old life. A sentence that was repeated a lot was: "You are ALIVE!" (in different forms, the personal pronoun varying between 'he', 'we', and 'you'). It made me think of Shrek 2 (where they create a huge gingerbread man and makes it come alive) which again is a reference to the Frankenstein monster (I think, even though I almost don't know anything about it). This I did after a while, when it became hard to follow what the preacher was saying because I was tired and it takes some concentration for me to understand every word in the local English accent.
After the service was finished, we visited some friends of my companion, and they gave us food and water. The food was very nice, and we talked a lot. By this time it had stopped raining, and the sun was shining. After a long while talking and eating, the lady we were visiting fixed a ride for us back home. That was nice, after all I was quite tired (and I didn't really fancy a forty minute walk in the sun).
Later, Kristina asked me if I wanted to go and pick some wax apples with her. I was up for a snack, so I joined her. The wax apple field is where the sheep have recently been moved. We didn't see much to the sheep, but we found a lot of wax apples. Wax apples are fruits that are crunchy like apples, have a thin but wax-like skin, are pink when ripe, are pear-formed, have no core, and are delicious. I like them very much.
Flitting to and fro between the wax-apple trees were hummingbirds that looked black. At first I couldn't find out where the loud, deep buzzing was coming from, but then I saw them. They are beautiful, mesmerising creatures: tiny birds with long, thin beaks who drink nectar from flowers. They beat their wings really fast, and can stand still in the air. I am amazed once again at the wonders of nature.
Books read: 18
Pages read: 4816
Monday, 18 April 2011
17. Rhythm of life
The drums take you and lift you.
You soar through the sky
on wings light as air.
You feel the air support your weight
as you feel the pull
and heed it.
You land smoothly,
feel your feet beat against the ground, running.
The rhythm
lives in you,
is you.
You breathe.
Your feet are fast, stronger than you had imagined.
You are not tired.
The beat drives you on.
You dive, and enter a new world.
Brilliant colours float by as you head onwards,
the rhythm living in your limbs, propelling you.
Colours wash around you
in a beautiful melody,
swaying you gently and lifting you.
You dance,
laugh,
cry.
Your feet feel the earth again,
a heart beating.
The light flows in you,
moves you.
Breathes in you,
through you.
You dance.
You play.
You sing.
You live the music.
Books read: 18
Pages read: 4756
You soar through the sky
on wings light as air.
You feel the air support your weight
as you feel the pull
and heed it.
You land smoothly,
feel your feet beat against the ground, running.
The rhythm
lives in you,
is you.
You breathe.
Your feet are fast, stronger than you had imagined.
You are not tired.
The beat drives you on.
You dive, and enter a new world.
Brilliant colours float by as you head onwards,
the rhythm living in your limbs, propelling you.
Colours wash around you
in a beautiful melody,
swaying you gently and lifting you.
You dance,
laugh,
cry.
Your feet feel the earth again,
a heart beating.
The light flows in you,
moves you.
Breathes in you,
through you.
You dance.
You play.
You sing.
You live the music.
Books read: 18
Pages read: 4756
Friday, 8 April 2011
7. Drums!
Before dinner today, there was a drumming lesson for everyone at the clinic, and I was allowed to participate. There were three teachers, or rather two teachers and one other man beating the bass drum to keep us all in time. We carried chairs and drums into the horses' pasture, and sat down in half a circle. Then we learnt the basics of the African drum, like where to drum to get the different sounds: bass (flat hand in the middle), tone (midway to the edge), and tips (tips of the fingers on the edge of the drum).
We then started learning different patterns and rhythms, while watching the setting sun. While we learnt how to drum and our teachers led us in singing different songs, Stina and Farah were dancing with the horses behind us. It was magical, with the rhythm, the sunset, and the horses running. But the magic was just beginning. As we progressed to harder combinations and faster rhythms, the sun sank into the ocean, and the dusk started gathering.
We sang, drummed and watched the view and nature around us, and after a while, Stina and Farah started dancing by us. The horses had apparently had enough, so the horse dancers and movers started dancing around the perimeter of our drumming circle, and invited those of us who wanted to join. They danced around till they couldn't any more, and we continued drumming, the beat taking us and guiding us through the dusk and into the dark of the night.
Then, just as the stars were twinkling to life, I started noticing other stars joining them. The fireflies had awakened with the stars. So now they took over the dancing, and they danced about in the air while we beat the rhythm to this great cosmic dance of the earth-stars. The drumming ended in a flourish, and then the dinner bell sounded. We were drawn back to reality from this magical land of rhythm and natural dance.
Books read: 17
Pages read: 4572
We then started learning different patterns and rhythms, while watching the setting sun. While we learnt how to drum and our teachers led us in singing different songs, Stina and Farah were dancing with the horses behind us. It was magical, with the rhythm, the sunset, and the horses running. But the magic was just beginning. As we progressed to harder combinations and faster rhythms, the sun sank into the ocean, and the dusk started gathering.
We sang, drummed and watched the view and nature around us, and after a while, Stina and Farah started dancing by us. The horses had apparently had enough, so the horse dancers and movers started dancing around the perimeter of our drumming circle, and invited those of us who wanted to join. They danced around till they couldn't any more, and we continued drumming, the beat taking us and guiding us through the dusk and into the dark of the night.
Then, just as the stars were twinkling to life, I started noticing other stars joining them. The fireflies had awakened with the stars. So now they took over the dancing, and they danced about in the air while we beat the rhythm to this great cosmic dance of the earth-stars. The drumming ended in a flourish, and then the dinner bell sounded. We were drawn back to reality from this magical land of rhythm and natural dance.
Books read: 17
Pages read: 4572
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