Another week, another round of recos… thanks all. With the movies, the videos and the music, that’s quite a lot to explore.
When I was very young, like this high - imagine me now holding out my palm three feet from the floor - an aunt had gifted me a small bougainvillea plant. She said it was hardy and I was going to help it grow into something beautiful. She was wrong on both counts — I managed to kill it within months. Wracked with guilt, I never tried gardening again… until this year. With some nervousness, I got myself another bougainvillea. I fussed over the watering schedule, the soil pH, the amount of sunlight, and… well, just look at it now. Today, it’s bursting white flowers all over, and stretching and pulling in every direction. Made me walk around with an inner smile all morning and that hasn’t happened in weeks. In this time of unbearable grief and death, I often forget that the quality of life can be redeemed through the little things.
When you can, take out 9 minutes and press play on Easy Healing from Stefano Bollani’s Joy in Spite of Everything (ECM, 2014). It’s the sonic equivalent of sliding slowly into a pool of bliss. The melody gurgles like a current and carries us forward revealing delights at every turn – here’s a school of colourful fish who swim close and then dart away; there’s a busy dragonfly skimming over the surface lost in its own reflection. We float past stones and reeds smooth and shining, gently bobbing in place for brief moments before being swept away into newer lagoons. The groove is infectious, and I mean infectious in the right sort of way… not, you know... If you aren’t smiling by the end, bring out the oximeter and stick your finger in for a reading.
No matter what news of loss and despair this coming week brings, I’m determined to find joy in nature’s healing grace. And I wish the same for you.
Orko the Hopeful
