mindful ear

My large television stopped working a few weeks ago. After 17 plus years I guess it was tired deciding it had provided me with time well beyond its extended warranty. Still, I was not too thrilled with its sudden, well come to think of it, maybe not so sudden expiration. The picture did fade to black one day, which really served as my warning I just failed to heed. So there it sits, dark and done, no more movie nights when it, the couch and my chocolate colored blanket will nurture me if I am not feeling well, the last indulgence of guilty pleasures finished without me even knowing that I had been engaged in a farewell showing. Yet I have not been quick to replace my old Sony. Instead, I find myself doing something my grandmother used to do with us when we were wee ones and that is putting on music, sitting still on the couch, and LISTENING to every nuance. I can’t describe the exhilaration felt when I reacquaint with emotions that surface as note follows note on tunes that are embedded in me. I am taken back to my days as a DJ knowing exactly which songs by different artists with varied styles should play in succession to create a good flow so I pull and play the sequences satisfied that I haven't lost my ear. I suppose this is a form of mindful listening, one that requires no response unless you just can't sit still once the rhythms, words or something hits you...happens to me all the time. I just love it when that moment comes. I get up, start moving, lose track of time, returning only to get happily lost again when moved by another old or new favorite.

Don't wait until the TV breaks to take a break for a music marathon; it truly does soothe the soul so turn off the other electronics, turn up the music and...

keep your peepers open!®