I. When I was in high school, my dad was briefly a silent partner in a used car dealership. That might seem wildly out-of-character if you didn't know him well, but before he was any kind of Bible teacher, he was a farm kid who had to keep tractors and trucks running, and he was always a motorhead. I don't think he got any money out of the dealership, he just had an agreement that he would help fund their startup and in return, they would provide him with a car to drive.
My senior year, for about a month, that car was a (used) white Firebird or Camaro or something (I am not a motorhead), which were the hot cars at my high school, and which I had never even ridden in let alone had a chance to drive. He passed it to me to drive for a week or two, and my main memory of that car is driving around at night with the soundtrack to the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie blasting out of the 8-track tape deck, pretending I was in an X-wing-- my own private 70s movie mashup.
So the other night when we were scrolling around trying to find something to watch, and we ran across a John Williams documentary on Disney+, of course we watched. If you're even a marginal John Williams fan, we both recommend it highly. He wrote the soundtracks to both Superman and Star Wars, of course, as well as Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park, but he also wrote a bunch of stuff we didn't know about (the Olympic theme, for example). His music brings back an avalanche of memories, and his history is more complex than I might have expected. The documentary mostly concentrates on his collaborations with Spielberg, but there are plenty of other directors and musicians who contribute.
II. A couple of months ago, I realized I had stopped listening to music. I've never been one to always have music on in the background, but I used to turn it on when I was driving or if I needed to amp up my energy for a cooking or cleaning project. I've spent quite a bit of time and effort putting together playlists in our iTunes account over the years, and I had a couple of Pandora channels that I loved. And suddenly I was listening to none of it. It was as if I couldn't deal with anything but silence. I didn't have enough bandwidth for all the things I was worried about, all the things I felt responsible for, and listening to music.
In other news, our son and I have shared a Spotify account for years because originally when he was in high school, I was paying for it. He pays for it now, so it's really his account, but I still have the app on my phone and I would --maybe 3-4 times a year-- pull it up to listen to something and he would be met with Carole King or Stevie Wonder the next time he opened the app. So when I decided I needed to get back into listening to music as part of my drop-the-weight-of-the-universe-off-my-shoulders plan, I found out that Spotify was offering three months free, and I signed up for my own account. When I texted Sam and told him, he replied, look at you all grown up and savin' China. Love that kid.
So all of that was just to tell you that I have recently been reminded that there is a part of joy that is located in my body, my physical self, in movement. And if you want a recommendation, can I just say that you should try swanning around the house to Pink Pony Club. Those youngsters are really on to something, ha. I've been surprised to discover that when my arms are thrown into the air, something wakes inside me that has been asleep.
A thing I still hold dear, have always cherished since I realized it in college, is that we are all better and stronger when we support each other's individual selves, when we celebrate diversity ("Celebrate Diversity" was even the sign I carried in the Montana Women's March in Helena on January 21, 2017)(I just wasted about 20 minutes trying --unsuccessfully-- to find a picture). And if there was ever a song that joyfully celebrated diversity, it is Pink Pony Club.
III. In case you didn't notice, I've been clearing out all my half-written posts so I can shut this thing down. It's possible this will be my last post. Wow, that sounds so.... final. Maybe not. Maybe I will be back next week. But (see this post) I've been praying about it, and it feels right. I do have some more things to add to that post, but I will put them in a comment so check back if it's a topic that interests you. Love y'all.
No comments:
Post a Comment