man is a giddy thing

My mom will admit that I sung before an intelligble word could leave my mouth. Every roommate can attest to constant notes filling the house, often more annoying than pleasing. At twelve years old, I was drawn to the violin. Because of other passions and interests, my violin has been collecting dust for about four years. Music is not my profession, I didn’t study music, and I perhaps would not even call it a talent. But it is a love and a freedom. And even when I leave it behind, it calls out to me. Because with it, I call out to the universe, I ask questions, I plead, I explore, I relax, I breathe. In the depths of despair, my voice is an outlet. And with it I can express my moments of joy.

Words are incredibly powerful. Writing is another escape for me. It allows me to slowly and profoundly express an idea and form my opinions, which often in spoken word are unformed and unintelligble. Writing thinks critically and constructs carefully, while leaving space for questions, while not be bombarded by their expiration.

I’m not a speaker. But music allows and easy transition for ideas and concepts to be spoken aloud. Music doesn’t mask words. Rather, words are magnified by the power of music.

I am a giddy thing. I try one thing, and do another. I am impassioned for one idea, and finish the day writing another. But one thing remains constant: that I always explore and expand and grow.

Once, Shakespeare wrote:

Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,

Men were deceivers ever,

One foot in sea and one on shore,

To one thing constant never.

And Mumford & Sons so passionately sang:

Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea, one on shore
My heart was never pure
And you know me
And you know me

And man is a giddy thing

Don’t only practice your art. 

But force your way into its secrets, 

For it and knoweldge can 

Raise men to the divine.

Ludwig van Beethoven

What is your art? How do you pracitce it? What secrets do you find?

in the city that we love

Wake up, run things out, contemplate, work hard, contemplate, work hard, catch up with nuisances…

Crash.

Energy is low. Life projects are lagging. Writing, patience, rest, giving, loving.

All these things are put on the back burner.

If you close your eyes, does it always feel like you’ve been here before?

(via blissfulbblog)

Music is important as a life anthem. To motivate us to keep moving. To be moved. And to not be afraid of either of those things.

A friend reminded me last night, that we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. That today is a day we can live, love, and make a difference.

After the tragedies in Boston, among countless other tragedies we have suffered as a global community in the last ten years, this should be obvious, and be a shared value, as we all work together to live a positive and vibrant life.

How are you adding color to your life? How are you infusing joy and thankfulness into your every moment? 

Weekly joy {3}

The last 3 weeks have been absolutely crazy.

But in between the moments of insanity, have been reminders to slow down.

Just some things that have been helping me keep sanity and remember the glimpses of joy, even in the insanity:  

Josh Garrells

This is so worth a watch.

Realizing that what my elementary and middle school science teachers taught me, might have actually stayed with me.

This weeks mission: Teaching fourth grade English learners how to write a science report. Formulate the question and the hypothesis. Then test the hypothesis, to find the conclusion. Then write about it! I’m sure my science major friends will be criticising me here, but what a cool process to watch: getting little kiddos to think critically, and in their second (or in some cases, third) language!

(click on the photo or here to read a blog post about our experiment!)

When you’re reading a book, and you come across a passage that describes an exact moment in your life: 

“I woke up as the sun was reddening; and that was the one distinct time in my life, the strangest moment of all, when I didn’t know who I was- I was far away from home, haunted and tired with travel, in a cheep hotel room I’d ever seen, hearing the hiss of steam outside, and the creak of the old wood of the hotel, and footsteps upstairs, and all the sad sounds, and I looked at the cracked high ceiling and really didn’t know who I was for about 15 strange seconds. I wasn’t scared; I was just some else.”

– On the Road, Jack Kerouac & Me after taking a nap the day I arrived in Madrid two years ago.

A painted chalk wall in urban Madrid, where street walkers write what they want to do before they die.

“Antes de morir, quiero…”

weekly joy {2}

Favorite Parody: Upside Downton Abbey

(click photo for video!)

Favorite New Tunes: Winter Trees – The Staves & Daughter – Youth

Favorite new bands to love:

Frightened Rabbits

Imagine Dragons

Favorite Documentary:

“Recycled Orchestra”

Interesting Articles of the Week:

Russian Family, 40 years without human contact

Loanwords, langauge is a virus

New interesting daily blog reads:

Storyboard

Favorite Quote of the Week:

“Any story worth its salt can handle a little shaking up.”-Salman Rushdie