Today, I joined a local co-working space called Club Kwench. Co-working spaces are a fairly new working phenomenon, intended for people who work from home but may need an office space. What is so delightful about this space, is its owner, Tessa McLoughlin. She has a vision for this co-working space – a place where people come together because we need each other. A place where we can work on our own and at the same time, we can connect.
As part of the gift of the day, I met an illustrator named Lydia Beauregard. She makes beautiful art for a living. She, and Tessa, both play music as well.
When I found that out, I knew I was in the right place!
Earlier this year, I started to play the bass. It’s been an intense love affair that has gone through ups and downs. At present, almost 6 months into this relationship, I’m no longer in the honeymoon phase.
Now, I have an ambivalent, more complex, relationship with my music.
I still love to play, to allow my creativity to flow, to feel the music. At the same time, I want to know so much more about music now. So, I have become impatient; I’ve lost my pure beginner’s mind. I have started to avoid picking up my instrument at times, not wanting to feel a sense of obligation. I can spend more time thinking about the future possibilities of my playing, than the delights of the present moment with my instrument.
Does any of this seem familiar to you with the things (and people!) you love in your life?
Like life itself, my music is becoming a tableau for my own worldview – both positive (life is beautiful) and negative (life is to be controlled).
And reflection is my balm. Through taking the time to write to you, to think about my attitudes, I can see more clearly. I look up now from my writing and see my bass guitar beckoning to me – come play with me!
I can see it with fresh eyes in this very moment. I can in this moment be free of the encumbrances of my past. I feel my desire again for my fingers to create new sounds.
I want to play life, despite my inherited limiting lenses and imperfections preventing me at times from seeing the beauty in the present moment!
How about you? What is capturing your passion this summer and how does that inform you about your own worldview – both positive and negative?
How do you want to play life?
To serenade you into reflection, here is one song/video that, I think, illustrates the magic of allowing the moment to emerge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqA25Ug71Mc
Enjoy your reflections, your playing of life and the upcoming juicy summer month! Till the next full moon!