We "grounded" ourselves yesterday. Doing our best to be "socially distant." It's all a bit weird and surreal. Living with a the looming global pandemic. It is here. So strange to walk to the lakefront. The streets were quiet. Not many folks out and about. We watched the waves crashing into the shore. The wind was whipping. Hard little snow crystals pelted our bodies and faces.
Back at our apartment, we filled our time up with music. When my partner played DJ it was all Chet Baker ("Let's Get Lost") and Billie Holiday ("Verve 12 Jazz Masters"). When I played DJ it was Shye Ben Tzur, Johnny Greenwood and The Rajasthan Express ("Junun") and The Rolling Stones ("Aftermath"). It made quite an impressive sonic stew. Our choices seemed significant, important. Filling our heads and hearts with uncommon vibrations.
Earlier in the day, I had visited a friend and client. We bowed to each other. "Namaste!" "I bow to the Divine in you!" No hugging or hand-shaking, and we stayed a good distance apart as we conversed. She had recently traveled to Nepal. She had made it overseas and back hale and healthy, avoiding the virus. On her trip, she had purchased a number of Nepalese "healing/singing" bowls. These elaborate, hand-crafted metal bowls are made from 9 different metals. They come with a special little pillow to rest upon, and two different mallets. The idea is, you strike the bowl with the mallets and vibrations ring out and provide a wave of healing. She gifted me one of the bowls.
I brought it home. We set it up in the living room and took turns striking it. My partner and I could feel the vibrations traveling thru all the channels and nerve-ending of our bodies. The bowl vibrated for an incredibly long time. A subtle, powerful hum reverberated in the room and in our bodies.
Made us feel better. Seemed to light up every cell in our bodies. Is it all illusion? All these "invisible" things. Changing our lives. Moment by moment. So strange, so weird, so surreal. Maybe it has always been so?
The a.m. soundtrack - The National's "I Am Easy To Find" (2019). A joyous, majestic, blast of Art. This one is a bit different. Same great band, fabulous musicianship, but lead singer Matt Berninger shares vocal duties with a number of female vocalists and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. A stand-out. It all works brilliantly. A beautiful work of High Art. The album is just the finest stuff imaginable. Breath-taking. Heart-breaking beauty. Life-affirming. Fabulous, healing, vibes. Music-making at it's best.