Great music seems to always find me just when my soul needs a new anthem. I stumbled upon this amazing group via a digital cable music channel. It took me less than 5 seconds to know I loved them. This Oregon based band is often comprised of at least 12 members and has been featured on David Letterman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_Y2HABzuUs

For the past couple of weeks I have been brainstorming what I wanted to do with this so called "blog" that has been neglected since its creation. More than anything, I want this blog to serve as a vehicle for sharing my passions of art, music, history, and photography. This blog will serve it's purpose if it can bring joy, solace, and knowledge to anyone who happens to take the time to read it.

Mindful driving

Mindfulness can help make processes that happen automatically (i.e., without conscious choice) more intentional. If you are struggling with any kind of automatic harmful behavior, mindfulness is an important skill to learn.

One way to train yourself to be more aware of your unhealthy automatic behaviors is by practicing mindfulness of some of the more mundane behaviors that we tend to do when we are “on autopilot.” Driving a car is one example (for those who have been driving for some time). Remember your driver’s test? When you first started driving, all of your actions were very intentional — you probably thought about checking the rear view mirror, thought about putting your hands in the right position on the steering wheel, thought about checking your blind side before switching lanes. After months and years of practice, however, driving has become automatic. You don’t think about all of the behaviors that go along with driving, you just do them, automatically.

To start to train yourself to be more mindful of automatic behaviors, start with mindfulness of driving. Practice this exercise each time you drive for a week. If you do not drive, the same principles apply to any other automatic behavior — pick something that you do so often that it has become habitual and automatic (e.g., making coffee, taking a shower), and practice being mindful of each action that makes up that behavior.

Disclaimer: Remember, mindfulness is not about relaxing or tuning out, it is about being aware of your experiences. Please only attempt this exercise if you feel that you can engage in the exercise safely.

Mindful Driving

1. Start by approaching your car/truck with the intention of being mindful.
2. Notice each of the actions involved in starting the car: opening the door, sitting down, putting on your seatbelt, putting the keys in the ignition, turning the keys. Be aware of the sensations in your body throughout. Notice the feeling of sitting down, the feel of the cold metal key in your hand.
3. As you pull out of your parking space, notice the sensation of motion, and the feeling of your hands on the steering wheel. Expand your awareness so that you are really aware of all of the things in your field of vision. In your mind, label each of the steps of your behavior (e.g.,”I am checking my rear view mirror. There is nothing in the way, I am backing up”).
4. Continue practicing being aware of your experience of driving. If you notice that thoughts have pulled you away from the experience (e.g., you are thinking about something in the past or future), just gently shift your attention back to the experience of driving.
5. Each time you stop at a red light or stop sign, use that as a cue to come back to the experience of driving. Our minds very easily wander to other things when we are driving because it is a habitual behavior. Each time you are stopped, just remind yourself to come back to being aware of driving.
6. Continue to drive mindfully until you arrive at your destination.
7. Remember that each time you practice mindfulness, you should expect that your mind will wander. That is just a normal thing that human minds do. The goal of mindfulness is to come back to being aware of the experience over and over, not to be able to focus perfectly!

Kabat-Zinn, J. Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditations in Every Day Life. New York: Hyperion, 1994.

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/06/hypnotic-wind-powered-kinetic-sculptures-by-anthony-howe/

"Are We the Music or Does it Create Us"

I prefer to write on paper with a pencil - there is something terrene about the wood touching the white paper that was once wood…. So please be patient as I continue to work out this idea. The other day I was remembering a scene from the movie, “Touching The Void.” In this scene the main character of this true story, Joe Simpson, was dying from injuries and exposure after breaking his leg at about  20,000 ft. on the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. At one point during his unwavering fight to live this song came into his head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaWsIzWZFr0)

Joe goes on to explain "A part of me performed tasks without conscious decision, as if I already told what to do, while the other part insisted on vocalizing a stupid meaningless song through my every thought (p.136)." But those thoughts helped keep him alive.

Music is such a mobile part of our lives now, it's difficult to think that  Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norway heard the Queens Coronation on a radio at the base of mount Everest.  Henry David Thoreau wrote "[I]was awakened in the night to a strain of music dying away, — passing travelers singing. My being was so expanded and infinitely and divinely related for a brief season that I saw how unexhausted, how almost wholly unimproved, was man’s capacity for a divine life. When I remembered what a narrow and finite life I should anon awake to! [Journal, 19 April 1856]."

And my favorite one so far by Mr. Thoreau is "The music of all creatures has to do with their loves, even of toads and frogs. Is it not the same with man? [Journal, 6 May 1852]"

So here are my questions to those who took the time to read this and have the time to contribute. Thank you so much :)

Question #1. Thoreau speaks of “love”. What does music mean to you and is it always there? Do you search for it? Or just turn it on? Is music private to you or do you enjoy sharing it with others.

Question #2. Does music make you feel different emotionally? How old were you when you discovered music could alter your emotions? Do you remember the song or group? Did you start doing activities where music was always included?

Question #3. Does music motivate you?  Do you feel stronger when running while listening to Justin Beiber (I would so make fun of you if that was true) or what about some punk or metal Is there a difference between one song motivating one person to do their dishes while the same song is motivating someone to climb Mt. Everest? Does the silence of loneliness through the music encourage the motivation for both?

I pray this makes some sense and is of some interest to you. Please don’t hesitate to write back here, privately, or to my email at yenoh76@gmail.com

I hope to email out a few private messages for my several friends that are avid runners and climbers. I know everyone is really busy so no rush in writing back. I’m deep in research and am having a blast! ~Lisa Anne

“A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”  ― Maya Angelou