Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Rhythm is Life and Life is Rhythm




One of my favorite parts of my daily routine here is when I get to water the greenhouse in the morning. It’s not because I like the humidity in the air inside the greenhouse or the mud I have to tread through from one end to the other. It’s because I get to listen to my iPod on full blast with no one around me but the plants and music. I get to zone out from the current menial task at hand and lose myself in the music and lyrics of whatever song may have popped up on shuffle. Some people think better in complete silence with the noises of nature around them; some people think better in a group of people in a collaboration; I think better when listening to music. It’s like The Dirty Heads said, “I turn up my brain up in my headphones.”

Music sets my mood and attitude towards a lot of things in life. I use it as therapy of sorts, therapy that doesn’t involve talking, just singing and thinking. So when I feel like I’m too out of place here and feeling a little unsure of what I am doing, or especially about my future, I can just walk, take in my surroundings, put on the right song, and my attitude drastically changes for the better. It can be a song that I have listened to a hundred times and it never gets old, like “What a Wonderful World” by Joey Ramone (I like a lot of covers of this song but Joey Ramone’s is my favorite), “Soulshine” by The Allman Brothers, or something new and a bit corny like “Good Life” by OneRepublic. It doesn’t have to have uplifting lyrics, it can be something with a great beat and that’s fun to sing along to, like The Dirty Heads or even Kanye West.

I also love when Alain and Marie’s youngest son, Marjolain, is home from school on the weekends because he is always practicing his piano playing skills. That is the time that I am grateful that the floor of my upstairs bedroom is a very simple wooden plank floor, without soundproofing. The piano sits right below my bed and the sounds resonate up to me, it is happening now as I type this. He plays everything from Chopin and Schubert to Beethoven and Debussy. It doesn’t bother me at all when he misses the right note or has to repeat a small section over and over again until he gets it right. I love the classics and I love the piano. I wish I had learned, but I am far too old to get remotely close to the point that a 16 year old is at if I started now. If I have a child, they’re playing the piano. I don’t care what they want to do… hehe… Just kidding…. Sort of…

But what I love most about music is that you can find inspiration from all types of music, and sometimes in the most unlikely of songs. Take for instance, the title of this blog. I’m sure some of you reading this know exactly where those lyrics came from and others are trying to place them right now. It’s the all-so-wise lyrics from “Regulate” by Warren G. Yes, “chords, strings, we brings, melody, G-funk. Where rhythm of life, and life is rhythm.” I doubt Warren G knew he was makings such a bold statement with that, but he’s completely right. There’s music all around us. Some of it not very appeasing.. (just as I was typing that statement, the damn roosters had to pipe up with their out of tune singing…) But music is out there to be enjoyed, appreciated, and shared. You just have to keep your ears and mind open because your song may be in the most unlikely of places.

And remember kids, if your ass is a buster, 2-1-3 will regulate.

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