Recent post Reptiles of the Mind tripped swiftly off my fingertips, and it sounds very well and straightforward, my wisdom (ahem) about new ideas. But let me tell you something. There’s an old saying by I’ve-forgotten-whom: God, beware of Philip (?) today. That’s how I feel: People, beware of Judith today.
Because we went to a concert of living Latin-American composers of contemporary music last night at Williams College. That’s REALLY contemporary stuff, new ideas, big-time. Which I’ve just advised us all to welcome, right? So how did I do?
I spent the evening biting my lip and squirming and fidgeting and constantly reminding myself of the relationship between practising and preaching. Telling myself to resist defining these strange unfamiliar sounds as “noise,” to stop labeling the silences and screeches and scratches as “silly,” to stop waiting for familiar harmonies and listen instead to what was there — in short, to keep an open mind, and the reptiles at bay.
But I feel compelled to warn you, man, it was hard. I’m not taking it back, mind you. But there’s a reason so many heads are filled with standing water. All I can say is, Onward!
And now, because snakes and Valentine’s Day don’t mix (not in my mind at least), let me offer my Valentine wishes for you over here —
Touch2Touch 
Well now, that made me laugh. I remember my father feeling exactly the same way about Elvis Presley and The Beatles!
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What a perspective! Yeah, lots of people felt like that about the Beatles — and I still feel that way about Elvis Presley. Thanks for the laugh, P —
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It’s funny – I watched part of the Grammy’s with my husband on Sunday; and during a few acts I caught myself thinking, “Um, that’s popular? Wow…”
🙂
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Hmmm — you make me think, maybe it’s in anything at all, the learning curve exists. Sometimes easier, sometimes steeper, but maybe it’s always there.
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Judy, your response is a lesson in the exercise of Zen thinking, even without reference to the subject, music; a truly beautiful mind, and integrity of spirit!
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Thankee, ma’am. (But oh how I squirmed!)
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“there’s a reason so many heads are filled with standing water” 😀
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Yes. And thanks, John 🙂
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I love your eye candy series – wonderful! I found myself smiling at all of the great images. 🙂
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Don’t you LOVE color when it’s such a contrast to the monotone? (And then vice versa, I love misty gray-greens in broad summer daylight.)
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Hmm… “grass is always greener”, no? 😉
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Well, I am sorry you were put in a position of squirming through the concert. Yet, I am glad that you were able to have the opportunity to be exposed to something new and different than your usual tastes. At least from the squirming sensastions, such as those you felt, we gain a greater appreciation to what we are familiar with!
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Really good point, Tara, which I haven’t considered until now, that along with the complex reactions to the new can come a deeper appreciation of the old and familiar. Thanks for showing me!
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