“Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that you can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
—The Fox from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince
Making music.
I’d forgotten about that.
What reminded me was a dream Tuesday night, or Wednesday early morning, who knows?
I was playing keyboards in a pickup band that was a cross between jazz and prog-rock and not feeling very confident about my skills, as it’s been years since I picked up an instrument of any kind (more on that in a sec).
So, in the dream, we’re improvising a song and trading licks and ironically it’s coming together pretty well for a ragtag team. I’m enjoying myself, but still nervous about how I’m doing. Am I letting the other band members down?
In the end, I apologize for my weak keyboard skills, but the guys are cool with that. I say, “Hey, I found some old piano lesson books from when I was a kid, so I’ll restart from scratch and maybe we’ll be better next time!”
I awoke remembering how my mother used to drive me to piano lessons at a place called the Minnetonka Center for the Arts (check out the link, it still exists!) and before my piano teacher showed up I wandered around classrooms watching people oil painting or throwing pottery on wheels—the place smelled of art and possibility! I loved being there. After my lesson I would go play piano in one of the free piano rooms until my mother appeared to pick me up.
I’d totally forgotten how much joy those days brought me.
—Fast forward to 2022. It’s an uglier world, and the sun is super-pissed at us humans.
But I can’t convince the sun that we’re any better humans today than we were yesterday. So I try to take a walk in the shade and look for the tiny forgotten things that most of us don’t notice.
This really made my afternoon, hot as it was, since it was set into a stone wall by a shady tree. I tried to photograph it from various angles.
Today I’m feeling playful and I hope you’ll join me in that.
Oh and that dream? While I can’t get back to that original Center for the Arts, I’ve discovered one just blocks from where I now live. I plan to visit! Maybe I’ll pick up an instrument or find a piano again. Yay!
To all our new subscribers (and we’re over 40 peeps now!), this is “In the Sandbox,” a Friday community huddle around each aspect of Daytalking, Nightwalking, and Stargazing, where we get all handsy-on about these aspects and share ideas with each other (links are to primers for your benefit, to get up-to-speed).
By actively writing and reflecting on your personal history, you’re better able to grapple with your present and more confidently approach your future. Add to that, interacting with the rest of our Substack community brings in possibly new and untried ideas and encourages further reflection, support, and action.
So don’t be afraid to chime in.
The fundamental basis of Daytalking is playfulness in relationships, so here’s how we’ll approach that this week:
Let’s start with a common two-word phrase, either familiar or unfamiliar, such as “road construction,” or “habeas corpus,” or “cornmeal cracker.” It should be two words that together make some sense.
Next, from the two words you’ve chosen, form another compound phrase that is entirely nonsensical. This is the crux of the exercise, because the brain wants to make sense—and what we’re doing here is the exact opposite. For example in my three phrases above, they could morph into: “toad confection,” “heinous campus,” or “cabal clicker.” Or any number of other combinations. Your choice.
The end effect should be one of amusement—a way to loosen your thinking and put it out there for the rest of us to play with, too. You’d be surprised at how much better you’ll feel after messing around with it!
Have a wonderful August my friends. And remember to play.
Genius loci - Tedious Rocky
Moon sonata - loon patata
:)