Gone, But Not Forgotten

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHytuO8xVkw[/youtube] I hear the sound of an orchestra tuning, and decades-old memories of sending out the concert C come rushing back. Creating a sonorous slice through the audience's chatter with my oboe, followed by the hush. The anticipation. Theirs. Mine. Ours. A symphony unto itself.

Long skirts and crisp white blouses at Alice Tully Hall. Matching blazers and Russian Christmas Music at Woolsey Hall. Sharing pizzas in New Haven. Soaking my reeds in one of my father's old film canisters. Humming melodies. Dreaming of the Boston Pops.

This jumble of noise, the vibration of everybody matching their pitch to me, filled me with equal parts fear and confidence. Leading the pack and blending in all at once.

Even though my orchestra years are long behind me, it's a role I find myself still playing to this day, in work and in life. I set the foundation and then retreat, only to occasionally and precisely--deliberately--be heard.

Swells and dips. Crescendo and pianissimo. Quality not quantity. Always.

_________________________________________________________________________  © 2012 Good Karma Housekeeping. Because resonance is multisensory. 

This Thing I Love: Fiddlin’ Around

[youtube]SBSnR4ZP2MI[/youtube] Oh, Pandora—you sneaky l’il matchmaker, you. Thank you for acquainting me with Ray LaMontagne. With Nickel Creek. Mick McAuley, too.

You noticed that I keep giving the thumbs-up to the artists with smoky, bluesy voices who bring a catchy beat to their tunes. Iron & Wine. The Swell Season. Joshua Radin. Bonus points for eloquent lyrics and the dips and swells of a violin accompaniment. Soulful music that catches me off guard and settles into me, deep. Transports me. Gives structure to feeling. Humbles me.

  "Don't look for love in faces, places. It's in you, that's where you'll find kindness."                      --Ray LaMontagne

_________________________________________________________________________ © 2010 Good Karma Housekeeping. Because beauty is multisensory.  

All the Details

It has been a week of simple pleasures--the type of things that, all too often, I take for granted. Such as . . .

• Marveling at the clean blanket(s) of snow
• Accompanying Inky on his Caring Canines visit
• Buying holiday presents for a child whom I've never meet
• Enjoying the glow of my beautiful Christmas tree
• Cozying up on the couch with a loved one (pups nearby)
• Making breakfast for dinner (accompanied by a glass of malbec)
• Devouring my homemade calzone (even better the next day)
• Rearranging my end tables
• Adding 2010 plans to my cute new agenda book
• Accomplishing a big professional goal at work
• Fortifying myself with fresh-squeezed orange juice
• Savoring a bowl of tomato soup with parmesan croutons on a cold winter's night
• Receiving my first holiday card of the season
• Discovering a new (to me) musical group: the Vitamin String Quartet
• Making yoga + brunch plans with a good friend
• Attending my first kundalini yoga class with the gong
• Staying healthy (knock on wood and take my vitamins)
• Laughing together (oh, hello ab muscles)

How about you? What are some of the little pleasures that you've been taking for granted?

"The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life."                                                                                                                     --William Morris

_________________________________________________________________________ © 2009 Good Karma Housekeeping. Because everyday things can be pretty special, too.

Enjoy the Silence: Meditation with Mantras

I've been attending a weekly Kundalini yoga class for the last two months. It's a style of yoga that's very different from the power/vinyasa flow I am used to. The poses are dynamic (i.e., you're moving) but you do the same pose for several minutes. It might look easy on the surface, but I can attest--this stuff is intense!

What has really captivated me about this style of yoga is its bevy of mantras. Lots of chants and hand motions. It's like cheerleading in Sanskrit--but without the kicks, flips, and squeals. The mantras serve as a form of meditation.

Generally speaking, a yoga class is a meditative experience in and of itself. But there's something about throwing around all those Kundalini gang signs (better known as mudras) and the lullaby of all those foreign words that has swept me into a place where to-do lists and everyday woes are just a tiny blip on the horizon.

"Your strength is how quietly, calmly, and peacefully you face life."

                                                                                           --Yogi Bhajan

_________________________________________________________________________ © 2009 Good Karma Housekeeping. Making the space--mentally and physically, on Tuesdays at 7:15 p.m.--to live happily ever after. (Image courtesy of stevoarnold via Creative Commons.)

Maybe I Was Born to Run

Personal productivity experts say that one of the best ways to help you achieve your goals is first to put them in writing and then to share your plans with others. So, that's exactly what I'm doing, right here and right now. I am going to start running.

I had pretty much written this off a no-go quite a few years ago, remembering how silly I looked running (or so I was told) as a child, and later as a teen. With my legs flapping and my arms flopping, I too believed it wasn't a pretty sight. No big deal though; I had plenty of other activities to occupy my hours and never gave running a second thought.

Exercise has never really been my thing--that is, until I discovered yoga back in 1994. Heart-thumping, liberating, acrobatic, and introspective all at once, this package deal clicked with me and my long limbs right away. I quickly subscribed to its noncompetitive spirit and never looked back.

However, my body is calling out for some cardio--and my soul is begging for more time outdoors. I enjoy my alone time, like listening to eclectic music, and am inspired to introduce another healthy habit into my life. I need balance. So what if I have floppy arms? So what if my stride makes me look like I am hopping over puddles?

"You achieve much once you stop telling yourself you can't do things."                                                                                   -- Elizabeth Kadetsky

Here I go. I'll start this weekend; one foot in front of the other, one minute at a time. Cool Running has a Couch to 5K running program for raw beginners. In two months--with a commitment of training just three times per week--I should be able to run a 5K (that's just over 3 miles for those of us who never really learned the metric system) by the beginning of October. Just as the air starts to develop its New England crisp and the leaves begin to change colors. All the more reason to be outside.

I've satisfied the productivity experts by declaring my plans. Next, it's time to answer to the fitness pros and register for a race. My favorite part of this assignment is that so many of them are tied to some sort of charity or nonprofit cause. So, pick your platform and let that serve as motivation and inspiration to kick butt.

The plan:

• Get fitted for a new pair of sneakers from the pros at Marathon Sports. Resist the nagging temptation to purchase a heart rate monitor or a cute running skirt.
• Take a nice, long walk in my new sneakers to break them in. Load up the mp3 player with some good, rollicking music.
• Sign up for an upcoming 5K run/walk. (I'm eyeing one in my old neighborhood that benefits the Travis Roy Foundation; I wish the Boston Race for the Cure was a bit later!)
• Begin the Couch to 5K program, starting with 60 seconds of jogging followed by 90 seconds of walking, for a total of 20 minutes.
• Keep at it--three times a week for the next two months, along with twice weekly yoga.
• Celebrate!

Can I do it? Of course I can. Not only am I really looking forward to spending more time outdoors--and getting in better shape--but I'm excited to carve out this additional 90 minutes per week to do some additional mental housekeeping. To-do lists, goals lists, daydreaming, story ideas, more daydreaming . . . bring it on. 

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© 2009 Good Karma Housekeeping. Making the space--mentally and physically--to live happily ever after. (These two photo copyrights are not my own--though I wish I could claim them. Don't you just love that dog face?)

Better Late Than Never, Right?

I had brunch today with an old college friend whom I haven't seen in a dozen years. And as we stood in line giving each other the abridged version of our lives post-college, I pulled out a CD from my bag that I had borrowed from her in 1995.

We had a good laugh about it, and she had always wondered what happened to it--not remembering whom she had lent it to. What happened to it was that I liked it. A lot. So, I listened to it over and over again throughout our senior year. And then, in 1996 when we graduated and went our separate ways, that CD got swept up in my own collection and made its way back to Connecticut with me. Intentional or not, I cannot remember, but I never forgot whom I borrowed it from. I knew our paths would cross again sometime, so I just held onto it. Sure I could have sent it, but the look on her face, all these years later, was priceless.

Better late than never, right? At least CD technology is still around . . .

(The coveted CD: The Angel in the House by Jonatha Brooke's old duo, The Story.)

_________________________________________________________________________ © 2009 Good Karma Housekeeping. Making the space--both mentally and physically--to live happily ever after.