Plenty of sun, not too much wind and a week in time.
The blooms smell as good as they look!
The magic of music
What is music but a collection of sounds and vibrations? For me it is more than that, it is two letters away from magic. At a personal level it has the power to bring pleasure, connect people together, invoke emotions and memories. Collectively it can represent a sense of belonging and national pride. It is inclusive of all age groups and generations.
Childhood
My first memory of classical music was filing into assembly at Welsh House Farm Junior and Infant School to the sound Greig’s Peer Gynt and Holst’s Planet Suite with background crackles and pops of mono vinyl recordings, it was the late 1960s after all.
Count Dracula
My appreciation of music grew during my time at secondary school in the ’70s. I remember a formative moment aged 11, as if it were yesterday of being totally captivated by Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre. Mr Lancaster, our teacher asked us to draw what we heard. I’m sure he told us the story behind the piece as I drew a churchyard scene at night, including graves opening, skeletons appearing and a cockerel heralding the dawn. This experience resonated with me on so many different levels as I had an unhealthy fascination with horror stories and the legends of Vlad the Impaler.
An unholy din
I drove my family to the brink of despair with my attempt at learning to play the violin. Even today I am convinced that the peripatetic teacher disappeared suddenly as a result of the squeals, squawks and squalls from an instrument that in the right hands can bring joy and sadness to listeners.
Knowing my limits
I accept the fact that my musical talents are limited so I have settled into the role of appreciator. Luckily for me Birmingham City Library had a huge collection of vinyl recordings that I took full advantage in borrowing. It was a special moment after a couple of decades and living a dream that I saw Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Holst’s Planet’s performed at the Sydney Opera House.
Even now I’m carried along on the waves of the sound of the strings when listening to Barber’s Adagio, the mournful troughs and sweeping crescendos connect with my spirit. The magic of music has been part of my world for as long as I can remember, it brings me peace.
Belated, July post for peace
I wrote the first draft of this letter to humanity in July, however putting pen to paper takes more motivation and concentration than I remember. I got there in the end, no cigar for meeting the deadline!
Sundown
Winter pink
A walk from Lewisham to Dulwich Hill and back today provided plenty of photo opportunities. I couldn’t resist cherry blossom against a deep blue sky.
The magnolia blooms in the garden have begun to open, capturing images of them is becoming an obsession.
A taxing day
Paperwork
Yesterday trickled like water through my fingers. Our first job was to set up the dining table; the perfect surface to get everything together for the annual tax return. We sorted 12 months worth of receipts into categories ready for data entry and then the motivation to complete the task evaporated.
Spring’s just around the corner
Already the flowers on west facing magnolias are changing from magenta to pale pink while some maple trees haven’t fully shaken off their leaves from last year. Early flowing jasmine buds, tinged with pink look ready to set loose waves of intoxicating fragrance upon the streets of Sydney.
The beautiful blue skied sunny day typical for Winter in Sydney could not be wasted by staying indoors. Following a couple of false starts we walked with Stan from Lewisham, through the suburbs of Petersham, Stanmore, Newtown and Erskineville. We stopped briefly at parks and trees for Stan to mark and connect with our route.
Relief from the dusty road
After walking for five kilometres we were ready for lunch at Bitton, a French inspired cafe in Alexandria. An outside table and a bottle of Baron Edmond de Rothschild Les Laurets, Puisseguin-Saint-Emilion were the perfect accompaniment to slow roasted pork shoulder with fennel slaw and a salmon burger. We did not really need the bread and pudding with sauce Anglaise or rhubarb tart, but it is still Winter after all!
Following lunch it took just over one hour to walk home through Erskineville, Newtown, Marrickville and Petersham. An afternoon nap and the satisfaction of a ten kilometres round trip were the perfect tonic to ease my hot feet.
View toward Erskineville from Bitton Cafe.
Moving toward wholeness, not perfection
Your post ties in beautifully to my most recent one on theINFP thank you
This part of Ireland has quite a lot of interesting early Christian remains, so last weekend I visited the ruins of the monastic settlement in Castledermot. It is a site which is left somewhat untended, so that the crosses and tombs have a certain craggy beauty in a natural setting. Rough stones, some seeming unfinished. And yet, unfinished or ongoing does not mean “not right”, much as we tend to prefer tidyness and a clear direction or order. We often think we have to be the finished product, or have everything resolved and clear, so that other people will give us the feedback that we are doing OK. Seeing this “lack of completion” reminded me of these words from Jung – which echo the idea from Pema Chodren posted last Friday. We never really arrive at “perfection” (even though the mind thinks in terms of it) but rather at…
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Dichotomy of being creative
Order – disorder
I’m a contradiction! My mind works in a seemingly disorganised way; thoughts come and go, they may or not connect with each other. In contrast when writing my electronic journal I know that it’s unnecessary to order tags yet I conscientiously do so.
Similarly I read the same notices and signs over and over again, day after day – a behaviour that seems to border on being obsessive-compulsive. Perhaps it’s a hangover from my school days when my name, class and date had to be written in a certain way, in a particular place on a page.
Creative constraint
I find creating things a challenge because I have difficulty letting myself go. I work according to many self imposed rules – colouring within the lines! Having said this I don’t possess the accuracy or patience needed for technical drawing or graphic design.
I exist in a state of limbo where nothing I create is quite good enough. As you can imagine self doubt and not being able to live up to my self imposed standards knocks my self confidence.
As I don’t have the benefit of self approval, I seek feedback from others. I know from experience that I don’t react well to negative criticism, what a predicament!
Worldwide Friendship
As part of the July Bloggers For Peace challenge Rarasaur made and sent friendship bracelets all over the World. I am proudly modelling my bracelet. It arrived with a hand written note to my home in Sydney, Australia yesterday.
Thank you Rara,
Robert x
theINFP 