Tag Archives: connection

Feb9

small kindnesses.

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I’ve been thinking about the way,

when you walk down a crowded aisle,

people pull in their legs to let you by.

Or how strangers still say “bless you” when someone sneezes,

a leftover from the Bubonic plague.

“Don’t die,” we are saying.

And sometimes,

when you spill lemons from your grocery bag,

someone else will help you pick them up.

Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.

We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,

and to say thank you to the person handing it.

To smile at them and for them to smile back.

For the waitress to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,

and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.

We have so little of each other, now.

So far from tribe and fire.

Only these brief moments of exchange.

What if they are the true dwelling of the holy,

these fleeting temples we make together when we say,

“Here, have my seat,” “Go ahead — you first,” “I like your hat.”

by Danusha Lameris, Small Kindnesses

 

—

 Danusha Laméris is a poet, teacher, and essayist. She is the author of The Moons of August (Autumn House, 2014), which was chosen by Naomi Shihab Nye as the winner of the Autumn House Press poetry prize and was a finalist for the Milt Kessler Book Award. Some of her poems have been published in: The Best American Poetry, The New York Times, The American Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, The SUN Magazine, Tin House, The Gettysburg Review, and Ploughshares.

Jan17

handwritten.

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“i love handwritten letters. the way the words get jumbled up when the writer’s excited.

the way the words get neat when the writer is trying not to make a mistake.

the way the words get pretty because the writer’s in love.

i love handwritten letters.”

-word porn

 

—

January 17th is National Send a Handwritten Letter Day.

The idea is to save the dying art of letter writing and help the ailing Post Office

by sending a letter(s) to someone you care about.

Who will you surprise with a letter? Saving the world one letter at a time.

Dec9

cooking by committee.

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we worked hard making

 butter

and

savory monkey bread

and

gingerbread cookies

it took a team

lots of

shaking ,stirring, rolling. cutting, chopping, spilling, melting, cooking, waiting, cleaning up

loads of fun

 little bits of magic

and

a few mishaps

thrown in for good measure

to make

a perfect day of cooking

tomorrow

we set our fancy table

and

sit down together

 to share our feast.

—

“no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.”

-julia child

Dec8

in synch.

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The scientific power of live music

We’re all familiar with the sense of wonder and joy we experience when we hear a song or piece of music we love, but there’s something even more magical about hearing that song performed live. Although many artists offered streamed performances online during the pandemic, these didn’t quite leave us with the same enchanted feelings as concerts. So what makes live music different? Columbia associate music professor, Mariusz Kozak explains why live music is so powerful.

Live music allows us to experience what philosopher Alfred Schütz called a “mutual tuning in” This term refers to the phenomenon where we experience the passage of time and emotions with others. This is part of the reason humans need social interaction to thrive. When we attend a concert, we’re experiencing the tone of the music—fast, slow, happy, sad—with others around us. This creates a sense of intimacy with the crowd around us. This is also why babies who are bounced in time to music with an adult display more altruism towards that person.

This pleasurable effect gained from synchronizing with those around us is what makes live music and dance so powerful. Although most people probably relate to this feeling when remembering their favorite concert, this feeling is not limited to conventional music. It can also be experienced through collective visual synchronization. In the deaf community, facial gestures and movements are to convey emotions in music performance. The collective interpretation of the emotions behind these facial gestures also promotes a sense of unity.

The Blackfeet in North America use the same word to refer to music, dance, and ceremony, indicating the essential role of gathering to fully appreciate the benefits of music. Close friends can even experience this synchronization when walking or talking together.

Experiencing music in the presence of others cultivates a feeling of unity and empathy within us which exceeds anything we could experience by ourselves. As we head back to in-person concerts and relish this feeling once again, know that the true power of the music you’re hearing might not come from the artist, but in fact your fellow concert goers.

—

“There is a high that comes from live shows,

a collective energy in a large group of people all gathered for one reason.

The beat slices through the melodies and then drops;

the crowd bounces and undulates like ripples of water.” 

  • -christina lauren, roomies

 

—

credits: the conversation, beth daly, Columbia University Mariusz Kozak

Oct24

continual celebration.

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surrounded for a long weekend by big people who choose to live creative lives

 working daily with little people who quite naturally live creative lives

i realize they are the same kind of people

who are, in spite of everything,

open, honest, vulnerable, full of wonder, bravery, creativity, joy, passion, and spirit

i feel such an admiration for them and kinship with them.

—

“life should be a continual celebration, a festival of lights the whole year round.

only then can you grow up, can you blossom.”

-rajneesh

happy diwali to those who celebrate!

Oct19

across the universe.

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my grandson stargazing in a night field

—

i met my ex-husband many years ago

a man with a brilliant mind

who taught me myriad things

among them

oceanography, astronomy, photography

astrophotography

my grandson

 never met his (now late) grandfather

yet all these years later

he put together one of his old telescopes

 taking it upon himself

to learn astrophotography

he has become a stargazer

two generations later

his grandfather

would have been thrilled and so proud of him

proving once again that

everything in the universe is truly connected

most in ways we cannot even begin to imagine.

—

 

“Science is the one human activity that is truly progressive.

The body of positive knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation.” 

― Edwin Powell Hubble, The Realm of the Nebulae

Oct14

sprinkle magic.

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a tribe not my own, but with the same kind of spirit

—

“surround yourself with people who add value to your life.

who challenge you to be greater than you were yesterday.

who sprinkle magic into your existence,

just like you do to theirs.

life isn’t meant to be done alone.

find your tribe, and journey freely and loyalty together.”

-alex elle

Jul19

resa.

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happy happy birthday to resa

https://artgowns.com/author/resamcconaghy/

costumer and designer extraordinaire

you are an amazing talent

telling stories with your styles

  making real life connections

between people in the realm of blogs

may you never stop creating art gowns, finding meaningful art in murals,

and being an incredibly creative and inspiring part of our story.

—

hello too from our whimsical blog circle who keep crossing paths:

gigi, dale, and holly –

art, poetry, nature, animals, peace, kindness, love, humor, style, stories –

compassionate creatives all.

—

“creative expression is not just a means of getting attention, although some have approached art that way. think of art as a way of connecting, of sharing your insights with others.”

-nita leland

 

Oct28

find your fit.

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olive and yeti find their fit

 

—

“the best thing to hold onto in life is each other.”

-audrey hepburn

 

 

Aug7

hidden life radio.

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listen….

Silent tree activity, like photosynthesis and the absorption and evaporation of water, produces a small voltage in the leaves. In a bid to encourage people to think more carefully about their local tree canopy, sound designer and musician Skooby Laposky has found a way to convert that tree activity into music.

By connecting a solar-powered sensor to the leaves of three local trees in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Laposky was able to measure the micro voltage of all that invisible tree activity, assign a key and note range to the changes in that electric activity, and essentially turn the tree’s everyday biological processes into an ethereal piece of ambient music.

You can check out the tree music yourself by listening to the Hidden Life Radio—Laposky’s art project—which aims to increase awareness of trees in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the city’s disappearing canopy by creating a musical “voice” for the trees.

The project features the musical sounds of three Cambridge trees: a honey locust, a red oak, and an 80-year-old copper beech tree, all located outside the Cambridge Public Library. Each tree has a solar-powered biodata sonification kit installed on one of its branches that measures the tree’s hidden activities and translates it into music.

According to WBUR, between 2009 and 2014, Cambridge was losing about 16.4 acres of canopy annually, which is a huge loss considering that tree canopies are crucial to cities,  cooling them down during the summer, reducing air pollutino, sucking up carbon, and providing mental health benefits.

Laposky hopes that people will tune into Hidden Life Radio and spend time listening to the trees whose music occurs in real-time and is affected by the weather. Some days they might be silent, especially when it hasn’t rained for several days and they’re dehydrated. The project will end in November, when the leaves will drop — a “natural cycle for the project to end,” Laposky says, “when there aren’t any leaves to connect to anymore.”

 

—

 “in a cool solitude of trees

where leaves and birds a music spin,

mind that was weary is at ease,

new rhythms in the soul begin.”

-william kean seymour

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source credits: Kristin Toussaint, The Optimist Daily, WBUR Radio