Man oh man. I have been listening to some great tunes recently and WOW does it feel great. A good friend of mine brought a bunch of songs and it turns out we have very similar taste. So I just inherited a bunch of awesome new songs and it makes me all giddy.
You see music has the ability to move you to bliss. Actually, now that I think about it, most art will do that. One day I was at the hospital for a lumbar puncture and some other chemo (which they inject in your buttcheek, bastards). Lumbar Punctures are pretty intense because, I mean, theres a giant fucking needle in your spine. Luckily the procedure was executed well - I've had a bad one but lets not talk about it - and you are asked to lie on your back for 20 mins to avoid a massive headache among other things. So I had my mp3 player, popped on a song called "I am free" by a local artist Prosad who does a type of indian-trance fusion (it makes a really cool combo) and these waves of bliss rolled over me. Heres a link to the song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S42LGG3Eq44 I had just survived a pretty dangerous procedure and "I was freeeee."
Music put me in touch with that godliness within each of us. I tasted pure bliss through sound waves. The vibrations resonated with my soul and it creates such a powerful experience. Another song that has invoked this feeling of godliness is a song by Arvo Pert called Summa. It might resonate more with me because I have had many lives as a christian and many lives in the Middle Ages. Here's a link: http://www.filefront.com/16675531/02%20Track%202%201.m4a (note: the version I wanted wasn't available online so I uploaded my own, its a safe d/l)
I guess what i'm trying to say is; during treatments you might feel depressed, overwhelmed, sad, apathetic, etc. Music can pull you out. Put your favorite songs on and feel gooooood! bob your head, swing your arms, full out dance if you have the energy. Do this and your soul will rejoice and you will feel and witness the healing effects.
I leave you all with one more song. It was funny, I randomly turned on the radio and switched to the french CBC because they usually have nice songs in the afternoon. So this great song comes on, I am wowwed by how much I like it and then I panic because it is in french! I strain my ears trying to hear some damn recognizable words, something, anything so I can find the name of this song! I keep panicking because it's not working, shes talking too fast, so I call up my dad who is french canadian and in a rush tell him to turn on the radio and tell me some lyrics fast! By the time he gets to the station the song ends. Anyway he directs me to the "recently played" section of their website and after some confusion, I found my baby. Funny thing is the song is called "Je Veux" and I had typed "Je Ve" when I was trying to hear the words hahaha.
Check it out, I want to marry this girl. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-5fcFEohLA
(I have a soft spot for the kazoo)
In summary keep on rockin!
Hi Nic,
ReplyDeleteI love music too. I don't think I told you that I was a pediatric intensive care nurse for twenty-eight years. It was a pretty heavy duty job, but, I love taking care of the kids. We would take patients from infant to teenagers. Anyway, I stopped working as a nurse in Nov. 2004. In 1998, I opened my own dance studio with my sister. It is called the Diamond Dance Center and we like to tell our competition dancers the saying you have on your site..."diamonds are forged under the hardest of pressure!" You can try to find us on Facebook - search Diamond Dance Center (then pick the one that says Organization! We are located in Forest Hill, Md. But the one that say Forest Hill was started by one of my dancers. Mine has a ton of pictures of our dancers.
Anyway...back to the music thing. I love music and it really inspires me to choreograph and sometimes just dance for myself. Although ever since I lost Nick, I don't really do that anymore. I have been taking dance since I was five or six years old and I have been teaching since 1976. I used to teach ballet, tap, jazz, and modern. When my son was diagnosed, I gave up all my classes. Now I only teach one class all week. But, it's a start. I don't feel like I can create anymore right now...that is really hard for me. But, I hope in time that will come back. In the meanwhile, music continues to be an inspiration for me. If you're a dancer you have to love music, for me, the two are inextricably intertwined. My daughter likes music too. She will be heading off to a big music festival in Tennessee called Bonnaroo. They have so many good groups performing this year. My Nick used to go for quite a few years. Check out the site at www.bonnaroo.com I think they stream some of the music live during the three or four days of the festival. Also, there is a wonderful group from the UK I just saw live and I have their CD. They are called Mumford & Sons. They are also going to be at Bonnaroo. Let me know if you like them. I like the Je veux song. Although I have no idea what she is singing about. Ha, ha. She is very beautiful. I will have to get one of my dancers to translate. My dancer, Kirby, is very fluent in French! I took Spanish in school.
Nick, used to listen to music a lot while he was going through all his treatments and while he was in hospital we always had music there for him. He had to go through craniospinal radiation. That whole experience was extremely horrible. He would always have a CD picked out for them to play. It helped him get through it. Nick also had to have many treatments of chemo into his spine via lumbar puncture, so I know of which you speak. Stay strong Nic. You rock! And at my dance studio we always say, "keep on dancin'!"
Just as a total aside. We use a crazy song by Captain & Tenille for our finale song every year. It is a long standing tradition. It is called, "Can't Stop Dancin" I think it dates back to the 70's?? Yes, I am very old, but, I can still do a mean grand battement! Take a listen you might get a "kick" out of it or the nurses might when they find you shakin' your booty in your room. Take good care of you Nic, you are in my thoughts and prayers (to your spiritual adviser of choice), with fond regard, Diane