To Continue the Conversation About Sound Bites(not bytes)

It is true that I crave silence, but a little bit goes a long way. Usually I am nibbling on one kind of human generated sound or another.
I too, listen to music when I write, when I wash dishes, when I drive, when I do everything and unless I am humming it, it is only playing in my head. Who said our lives don’t have a soundtrack? Just because people don’t hear the music doesn’t mean the music is not there, right?
I write prayer-songs and lullabies…oh and little ditties that narrate my every action. Sometimes the narrator doesn’t sing, but much like Bulworth I can’t stop rhyming---irritates the kids but the dogs like it.)
Unfortunately I don’t know the language of musical notation so I can’t write the tunes out. I do have a handy little recorder that I can sing into and then upload the songs to my computer. I can listen to them or send them to someone else to listen to. I keep sending them to people, who do know how to write music or play a musical instrument, but that is proving to be a little dangerous for my social life; it seems to be an almost foolproof method of driving people away.

I say, “Hey, here is a little song I wrote. Might you be interested in putting it to music?---then you can have the song. I don’t want to sell it, I just want to share it.”

Then people say, “Ahem…hmmm…uh, well…(add excuse here.)

I’m not going to stop trying though. I am collecting rejection letters; I have one all the way from Manchester, from a sweet old priest in a church called the Hidden Gem (aka St Mary’s.) I sent him a song that was inspired by their phenomenal collection of Norman Adam’s paintings of the Stations of the Cross with the hope of having it published along with a little booklet of the prints; The song is a meditation, encouraging one to pause at each station to reflect on and absorb the mystery of the Way of the Cross. He was sweet about the song and said that he would not, however be able to publish it with the paintings. I like to think that it is only because of a clause in the copy rite.

My songs are ‘prayer’-songs because they usually come about because there is some super-intense emotion that words alone cannot convey-- not even emphatic words. They are prayers: desperate or joyful or contemplative, or consoling. The songs are shadowy or bright, with moods that range from melancholy to clear child-like simplicity.

This reminds me of something that was said in one of La Rooster’s novels, that some people use language as a tool instead of an art....And this brings me to the musings of my day so far:
La Rooster said that Wednesday is a day of power and suggested that I do not choose
it to be my day of electronic silence. (No email, blogs, facebook ; no TV, etc.)

I agreed! At first. Then I started wondering that if Wednesday is a day of power, wouldn’t that be all the more reason to be quiet and observe? I am a person of little understanding and foresight. I usually open my mouth only to, as they say, insert the other foot. How many times have I wished I could take back what I've said? So if there is a day of power I ought to be especially careful. Maybe with enough time spent observing with the quiet attitude of an apprentice I could learn to use my words the way Rembrandt used paint. And whether or not I ever master the art, at least I could learn something about perspective.

Well, thank goodness today is Thursday so I don’t have to decide for another week.

But yes, La Rooster, hot tubs and hot baths are great places to listen to Nothing except my own soap bubble songs and the sound the water makes when I lift my arm out of the water to pick up my wineglass.
Cheers!