The Power of Music

I found the coolest website today. It’s www.pandora.com-- a place where you can build your own web radio station. You plug in an artist or song and it automatically programs songs in that genre of music to listen to over the web.

The first radio station I built was James Taylor Radio. Within the course of a half-hour I not only heard JT, but Eagles, Jackson Browne and Harry Chapin---all artists and songs that I loved back in high school and college. I listened for hours and for the first time in a long time I felt connected to something from my past. It took me back to a time when music really meant something to me.

Music, especially when we were back in high school and college, not only provided a soundtrack for our lives, it defined who we were. In my school you were either a Rocker, a Disco-Head or a Folkie. I was a Folkie. Even dressed the part---short-sleeved peasant blouse over a long sleeved Danskin, corduroy jeans and Earth Shoes. Music gave us a place, a platform and most of all, an identity. I remember spending hours learning the lyrics to my favorite songs, clinging to every word, trying to unlock its special meaning for me. Pretty powerful stuff for a very insecure teen.

While listening to my marathon music session, so many emotions washed over me--happiness for all the good times, wistfulness for the friends that have drifted out of my life -- I even shed a tear or two for unrequited love.

My friend has a blog in which he describes his generation as the “Louie, Louie” generation—the generation of people who came right before the baby boom. “Louie, Louie” is all about attitude and state of mind. It’s brilliant. It got me thinking about finding a song for our generation of boomers who need to reconnect to a time when music had the power to make us laugh, to make us cry and to make us feel part of something very special.

Any suggestions?

Tai Chi and Me

Tonight I went to my Tai Chi class. It’s the third week out of a ten-week session. My two buddies bailed tonight---both with pretty good excuses. I was tempted to bail too, but I didn’t. Lately I find it hard to be committed to anything, so I took it as a challenge. I was going to go and actually STAY for the whole thing. I would be good for me. And it was.

This isn’t my first go-round with Tai Chi. I took a class a few years ago after I bopped myself in the head with a dumbbell doing bicep curls during physical therapy. My therapist suggested I join his class. He said it would help me with my balance and probably prevent me from giving myself a concussion. I figured I couldn’t afford to be anymore spaced out than I already was and having a little balance in my life is not a bad thing, so I took the class. So did my husband. Though we have no problem being committed to each other, sticking to anything that remotely resembles exercise is a whole other thing. We went. For a while. And I know we’re better off for the experience.

As I was flailing about trying to learn the intricate set of moves, my mind kept drifting away. “Will I outlive my money? Who’s going to take care of me when I’m old? Will we ever be able to sell our house in a down market? Will my car make it through another year? Oh look, there’s a cat outside the door. FOCUS…FOCUS…FOCUS.” Then my Tai Chi lady said the most profound thing. She said that we may not be able to control our surroundings, but we can change the way we look at them. Hmmm…change the way we look at our surroundings. That’s gonna take some work. At that moment I wasn’t sure how I was going to implement those words of wisdom in my life, but I remember saying to myself that I would figure it out later. Then something amazing happened. I began to focus. I began to get the moves down. I put aside my worries and I did Tai Chi. Sure, I still flailed about, but somehow that didn’t matter. My mind was quiet and my body just seemed to follow along. Tonight I understood Tai Chi.

And I even learned a little Chinese: Xie-Xie (pronounced sha-sha). It means thank you.