The Gift of Music

November 10, 2012

This morning to ward off noise I have my radio on – Berlioz, Schubert, Chopin, etc. It is not a distraction; it is a pacifier. As St. Teresa of Avila said as she grabbed her castanets and started to dance during the hour of recreation in her unheated convent, “One must do something to make life bearable!” Dorothy Day

Something very special happened this morning.

I had about an hour to spend in my hermitage in between activities, which I’d normally use to catch up on reading. But have you ever felt that the only thing missing from a room was music? I have no problem with silence; in fact, I crave silence. But this particular silence was waiting to be brought to life. 

I turned on the radio and immediately remembered the limited options available to those of us in the middle of the desert. And then my eye caught the c.d. Loyola students made me for my trip west. The original plan was to drive from Virginia to Colorado; so in their thoughtfulness, they wanted to equip me with jams for the journey. I’d been saving the c.d. - as I do with new shirts and nice candles- for just the right moment. Well, that moment had arrived.

I really can’t describe the joy this music brought to my day, my week, my emotional space. One song after another, especially chosen by one loving soul after another, and each with a reason for its addition to this compilation.

And so, I did what any other rational person in the middle of nowhere with no one watching would do. I had a dance party. In my kitchen/living room/office/bedroom. A party for one, of course; but you would have joined in too, if you were there. That’s how powerful this c.d. was in that moment.

(That, on top of vacuuming the library this morning with a Eureka made of iron, was more exercise than I’ve had since my last fateful run with Back on My Feet on October 24^th.)

I’d like to share their brilliant selections with you, day by day. 

Go ahead. Dance.

“My Girl”, The Temptations 

I don’t need no money, fortune, or fame. I’ve got all the riches one (woman) can claim. 

Thanks, Stef Mule!