Out of the mouths of a thousand birds...

Out of the Mouths of a Thousand Birds

Listen -
Listen more carefully to what is around you
Right now.

In my world
There are the bells from the clanks
Of the morning milk drums,

And a wagon wheel outside my window
Just hit a bump

Which turned into an ecstatic chorus
Of the Beloved's Name.

There is the Prayer Call
Rising up like the sun
Out of the mouths of a thousand birds.

There is an astonishing vastness
Of movement and Life

Emanating sound and light
From my folded hands

And my even quieter simple being and heart.

My dear,
Is it true that your mind
Is sometimes like a battering
Ram

Running all through the city,
Shouting so madly inside and out

About the ten thousand things
That do not matter?

Hafiz, too,
For many years beat his head in youth

And thought himself at a great distance,
Far from an armistice
With God.

But that is why this scarred old pilgrim
Has now become such a sweet rare vintage
Who weeps and sings for you.

O listen -
Listen more carefully
To what is inside of you right now.

In my world
All that remains is the wondrous call to
Dance and prayer

Rising up like a thousand suns
Out of the mouth of a
Single bird.

Hafiz

another great thing about vinyl...

Not to go on and on and on about the merits of this medium (gosh, I've never done, nor will do such a thing! shocking!) but when playing vinyl you get to SEE how long a song is.

Listening to some Gould-bach right now and each side is a tiny cluster of songs, rather like the counterpunctal chaos of Bach's music itself. If this was cd or mp3 or youandme, I wouldn't be remotely aware of the geographies of time in this way. How certain records smatter, cacophony of birds-hovering-above and others slink into docks, freight ships hauling a large and steady load.

Oh sensual record how you pull me in with a myriad of traits equal parts unique and baffling.

Reviving the Lost Art of Being Overly Excited

This was one of the best things I ever watched, I am sure.
What could be more connected to my 90-day sensual challenge than a movie about people who use guts, heart, determination, feelings and skill to produce the world's most awe-inspiring and legendary pianos?

The documentary Note by Note, produced and directed by Ben Niles, is a breathtaking and important film about the making of one of Steinway's Grand Pianos used in professional concert settings. Taking over a year to make, (the piano, not the documentary) and involving the handiwork of numerous craftsman from a plethora of different specialized areas, (the tuning itself takes over a month to perfect) watching the production of one of these incredible instruments is like watching a team of unique and highly passionate people give birth to an awesome monster of sound and magic. Yeah. You know what I mean. You've seen teams do this before...

I was particularly struck by several things that all the folks had in common, from the musicians that get to play these works of art to the people who bang the wood initially into shape. They all had an exceptionally sensitive understanding of the nuances and individual personalities behind each instrument. They each cared deeply about processes that rely on human problem solving and human intuition and heart, and they all shared an across-the-boards passion for what they do.

Yet with these similarities, at the same time, they all came from such different backgrounds. The folks who work at Steinway are characters enough that even if they were building something other than these magnificent beasts, you'd still want to watch a documentary about them. One man, an amazingly jovial Irishman, talks about how the team of people that make up the workers would look like the UN if they all brought in the flags of where they're from. They speak a heap of different languages and range in age, background, taste and skill in so many ways. But they all have a beauty and a wisdom that unites them together in the most profound of ways.

A plate-fitter, for instance, talks about how he closes his eyes to "feel" out where there are problems with his work. Another discusses how he puts heart into his job which is one of the things a machine (most piano companies rely on machines nowadays) cannot account for. Many of the workers are aware of the importance of handing down training and knowledge on the job, and about how real-life experience is what makes all the difference. Some are quiet, reserved and fastidious, while others look like (or are) Dead Heads, and still others resemble truckers that have been on the road for a long, long time. They all blow your socks off with their intelligence, deep understanding of their craft, and their awareness of the need to be sensual when applying their knowledge to the building of the Steinways.

I could go on and on and on here for this film really did tear the top off my head. And hats off (tumbled, really) to all the lovely and intensely exciting folks in the world who are able to, with hand, gavel, crook or song, create objects together of a beauty that surpasses any understanding of what the word means in the first place.

Green, everywhere

Part of my 90-day sensual challenge (my very own, a not-new-years-resolution-resolution in the middle of it all, the year that is, or at least, this everyone-has-calendars-that-say-so version of the year) is to try to keep my eyes and ears open and more present than they often are, which has meant that I've found myself often looking at the tops of buildings and in places I wouldn't usually bother seeking out.

Which is how I ran into this wonderful display of a makeshift flower garden yesterday, up above a depanneur in the city. Does the person that cultivates these flowers also sell you packs of chewing gum and hostie? How comforting that in so many corners, tucked away from the world, are signs of life and the care that goes along with it. Or perhaps it is equal parts comforting and a challenge in and of itself to create spaces that hold some magic for those passing by.

Stain Man

This old one is done with almost stain-alone - coffee, olive oil, flower pollen (he will grow them for you in due time!) paprika, chili powder, cracked pepper.

Take your hands and apply directly to all the things that be. As part of this whole sensual challenge thing I think I am going to try to keep this up, to create things in a way that slows down their regular processes and makes my body pay attention and notice procedures from another vantage point.

Melancholic faces can be sung up with the simplest of materials after all. Take one's own face, for example....

Of my walk towards...

And the elephant-above-recycling and favoured-water-tower and favoured-sumac-trees and fish-in-glens-park and cage-hat-in-same and all the wonderful ways in which the world unfolds at our feets each day.

It really IS part of the sensual challenge, to decidedly walk, if one can, to a place where you'd otherwise bike/auto/metro. Take an extra hour or hour and a half and walk somewhere you would never usually get to in said way, even places you think might be boring to get to and just *see* what there is to be seen around you.

Eating in the Dark

This can't possibly be more sensual if it heaped on 6 ounces of the most potent perfumes and paraded around in furs and flowers. This weekend, I found myself amidst 6 friends, heaps of organic meat, loads of b-b-q sauce, no utensils, no electricity and first-time-out-on-the-barbeque as head chef. I have eaten loads of grilled things in my life but never commanded the whole show myself. Oh how life is good with laughter of loved ones and dead-chicken-that-was-hopefully-treated-warmly and direct contact with food.

Now, I know that most people that know me can attest to my rather...barbaric, at best, table manners - but I do think this stems from a desire to fully integrate with what I am consuming. I find utensils to be a sad means to a bitter end, and I have always appreciated cultures where you don't waste time with bits of metal getting in the way of a good meal. I know I would still be eternally laughed at for my uncouth behaviours with or without accessory at the dinner table on a worldwide level, and perhaps that is something I will, in do time, fix.

But oh the sensual-ness of feeling the heat of food on one's hands, to be able to commune more directly with the fruits of the earth. It makes for better tasting food, and a (I suspect) more direct interest in what you're about to digest. And to be at a table surrounded by those doing the same, and the warmth of a glow of candle. Fills you right up before you've even taken a mouthful.

90-day sensual challenge

My friend Maia, a documentary filmmaker, has been running a project for the past 90 days that she's coined a love challenge. It's been inspiring to listen to what she has to say about it, and the ways in which people are coming together to challenge each other about what love is and how to engage with it in our daily lives.

Of late, I have been feeling completely overwhelmed and over-saturated by the intensity of images and applications being thrown at me from all sides. Today while writing an email to someone a chat-window popped up without any prompting from myself with a conversation from the person I was trying to write a message to appearing out of midair. We are more and more likely to be connected to our phones and wires and knobs and such directly, chip-to-brain and hand-to-machine. I did grow up reading science fiction, so a part of me might be a little more worried about this than parts of you, but I do feel that my concerns about the collective lack of attention span, and the shortening of said fuse by the (seemingly) day are founded, and important to pay attention to.

One way in which this is noticeable in my own life is my ability to go throughout my everyday tasks without being fully aware of my environment. When I am on the computer, I hardly ever notice the sounds of the wind, or what my cats are actually doing. Now I don't necessarily think that the humans I've grown up around have been encouraged culturally to develop those aspects of their bodies, the ones that respond to their immediate surroundings, but I do think we all have a responsibility to do so regardless, even if it means by ways of a rather painful un-learning of the speeds in which we have become accustomed to intaking certain information and ignoring most else.

What I am talking about here, on a fundamental level, is a certain cultural lack of sensuality in our daily experiences, and I don't just mean of the hubba-hubba sort. The rainstorm that poured down on me as I biked home reminded me of this, as I took the time to stand out under its heave and tow for a few minutes before going inside. The power of the plane flying directly overhead reminds me of this if I think about what its sounds represent, and the intensity of the imagery of its trajectory, a straight line above my roof quickly-disappearing-into-other-lands-and-times. The smell of dark, damp soil at night, the way your hand feels against face.

This being said, I feel like in order to begin to reinforce some of the desires I have to unlearn the speed at which I wizz past so much and the obliviousness I often have to the things I have time to notice, I am going to engage my whole being in a 90-day sensual challenge. To remind myself of what it means to really *feel* out my environment, and to ask my body to be less lazy about the gifts of the senses I have been given.

In honour of the painting I chose here, by Georges de la Tour, a dude who was very, very much into subdued and mysterious lighting, the challenge will start tomorrow at sundown. I am going to only use candlelight for the next 3 days once the sun decides to go elsewhere, and act like there's a power failure in the house. I will explain more as to why later, as right now I need to experience the sensual activity of getting into bed and going into the land of nog-nog. Goodnight one and all.