Today, I stopped for ten minutes, and I suddenly remembered why I was here.
I stepped out onto the balcony, and, as the fresh smell of wet earth hit my nostrils, I realised that this was the first time in months that I’d paid attention to my immediate surroundings.
I stood in silence – smelling, listening, looking.
I smelt the earth, the grass, the rain, and I remembered that I am living in a place with abundant and beautiful nature.
I heard children laughing, birds chirping and a rooster calling, and I remembered that I am living in a place full of simple joys.
I saw clouds gliding slowly across a blue sky, and I remembered that I am living in a place of peace.
The trees were barely breathing and the magnificent sun lit up the remaining drops of rain on the leaves, giving the impression that all the trees were covered in jewels.
Ten minutes of silence, ten minutes of stillness – that’s all it took for me to remember.
For months I’d been unhappy, unfulfilled and confused. For months my thoughts had been on the future – on what I should and could do to be happier, on where I should and could go to be more fulfilled, on whom I should and could meet to see things clearer. For months my thoughts have been on vague plans, on vague people, on vague possibilities. For months, I have been seeking happiness and fulfilment everywhere but here and now.
And then today, I stood still in silence for ten minutes and I remembered…
I am here, in this place, because I wanted to be somewhere quiet.
I am here, because I wanted to be close to nature.
I am here, because I wanted to be near the sea.
I am here, because I wanted a calm life.
I am here, because I wanted to live simply.
I am here, because I wanted to experience all of these things with the person I love.
I am here, because it was my dream to be here.
Funny, how we forget such important things in the rush of daily life.
No, I don’t mean watched a music video on YouTube, but listened to music, without having any visual distractions.
When was the last time you listened to music without knowing anything about its composer/singer?
No, I don’t mean not knowing the latest gossip on Rihanna, but not knowing who the singer is, how well the band is doing in the charts, how many awards they have won, what everyone’s opinion is of them, or even what they look like.
When was the last time you listened to music for the actual pleasure of listening to music?
No, I don’t mean the pleasure of having the hum of the radio as you drive to work; no, not the fun of blasting your favourite songs as you do the cleaning; but sat down and listened to music for the sake of listening to music.
When was the last time you were moved by music?
No, I don’t mean laughing at the latest pop lyrics or being frustrated by the bad grammar in hip hop; but got goose bumps, had your body temperature rise, stood transfixed or even cried from music.
When I was a teenager, I bought a Franz Ferdinand album, having seen their name in a magazine. I listened to the album every day and loved the music so much that I soon knew all of the lyrics by heart and even started learning to play their songs on the guitar. I loved their music and listened to it with a passion, but I had no idea who Franz Ferdinand were. I didn’t know how many people were in the band, I didn’t know where they came from, I didn’t know how old they were, I didn’t know how long they’d been around, and I didn’t even know what they looked like. When I went to their gig, I discovered for the first time the people behind the melodies and words.
Nowadays, we watch music videos and often judge songs by the quality of the special effects, the artists’ appearance and their attitude.
We know about the private lives of most artists and such gossip leads us to make judgements on their work.
In most cases, we know what the musician looks like, dresses like and acts like, which evokes certain associations in our mind as we listen to their music.
I recently went to a concert without any prior knowledge of the composer, his life or his music. For the first time in years I closed my eyes and got carried away in my own world while listening to music. I enjoyed the music for the beauty of the music itself.
And this made me realise thatlistening to music for the music itself is not something we do often nowadays. We listen to a song because it got stuck in our head, or because the singer looks pretty in the video, or because it reminds us of a place/period/person, or because the band is considered cool, or because the album is advertised on all billboards, or because we simply don’t know many other songs.
If you love music, I ask you to take part on a journey of discovery with me.
Every Monday, I will post a song or piece of music that I like. Although there will inevitably be the artist’s name and song’s title, I will post these songs as YouTube videos that contain no moving images. I will give no background information about the song or artist, and will not tell you what I feel or think while listening to the music.
I ask you to close your eyes for three minutes and simply listen to the music that I have posted. Listen to it for the sake of listening to music, for the sake of being moved by music and for the sake of experiencing the world through your ears, not through your eyes.
You may like or hate the songs that I post, but one thing is sure: in closing your eyes and listening to music, a new world will unfold in your mind. It is the world of the imagination. With no videos to tell you how to interpret the sounds, you will construct your own associations and build your own fantasies. The music will have an effect that is personal to you, because it will have spoken to you through the power of your own imagination and emotions.
You are free to research as much or as little about the artist whose music I post, but please only do this after having listened to the song.
Happy listening.
(Don’t forget to close your eyes…)
I would love to know what you felt/thought/saw while listening to the song.
And if there are songs or pieces of music you love, please share them with me and other bloggers by posting their title in the comments section. That way, we can all open up our musical horizons together!
“I am not happy”, the thought that we all dread came to me earlier this week. I realised that I am no longer happy in the city to which I moved ten months ago, I am no longer happy with my lifestyle and I am no longer taking pleasure in my every day life.
I feel a loss of energy, a loss of interest and a loss of motivation. I don’t remember the last time that I sung in the shower. It’s been months since I blasted out my favourite music and danced alone in the living room. And don’t ask me what I look forward to when I wake up in the morning, because I simply don’t have an answer.
It’s tragic, it’s heart breaking, but most of all, it’s very confusing.
Figuring out why we are not happy is a very difficult thing. Figuring out what to do to make ourselves happy is even harder.
Even if we find out why we are not happy, there could be things about certain situations that we simply cannot change. We cannot always move away if we’re unhappy with the place in which we live, we cannot always leave our job if we know that it is making us stressed, we cannot always heal ourselves if we are unwell, we cannot change the people around us if they are bringing negativity into our lives.
So what can we do if we realise that we are unhappy?
For the moment, I am not going to leave my current city, I am not going to change my job and I am not (and cannot) transport my best friends to my city. All I can do is to change a few things in my every day life, which could give me energy, inspiration and joy.
My happiness project for the next month is as follows:
1) Go for a walk every day.
2) Wake up at the same time every day (apart from Sundays, of course).
3) Go to bed before midnight, or preferably at 11pm.
4) Find a music teacher and practice the guitar every day.
5) Read a fairytale.
6) Buy myself something pretty to wear.
7) Go to see a classical music concert.
8 ) Do some sport every day. Dancing, yoga, aerobics, jogging, stretching, walking with heavy shopping bags…
9) Do something that I am scared of (call to ask for a job opportunity, enter a competition, apply for a course, book a trip away, start writing a novel)
10) Go to one new social event a week – alone.
11) Write one story or poem a week.
12) Set an evening every week for personal pampering. Beauty treatments, meditation, learning how to do a new hair style, taking a bath, listening to music with eyes closed…
13) Try a new recipe every week.
14) Buy a juice making machine, and drink fresh fruit juice at least three times a week.
15) Go to a new place in the city every week.
16) Edit any of the above points if they start making me unhappy.
17) Create a blog-report on each week of the happiness-project.
My happiness project starts today – I have five minutes to get myself ready for bed in time for my curfew!
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What activities would you put on your own happiness-project list?
