Music

Music

Good vibrations

/ binarybea / Leave a comment

If you´ve been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I write every article in Spanish first, and then I translate it into English, all of this from scratch, without any help from the almost omnipresent artificial intelligence (you can call me old fashioned if you want; this is one of the ways in which I keep my mind active and I exercise my creativity, two things that I consider extremely important)

The thing is, as you will have seen, that sometimes I find it hard to come up with equally precise or elegant ways to express the same idea in both languages. But today I don´t have that problem; this time, the post´s title is really easy to translate, as it´s an expression commonly used in English as well as in Spanish: good vibrations.

We say that something gives us good vibrations when we get a good impression from it; it makes us feel good, and we resonate with it in a positive way. So, why do we say it like that? Because that´s how it happens, and even if we can´t fully understand how or why from an intellectual point of view, we do experience it in our daily life, and therefore, our language reflects it.

At this point, let me apologise for my inability to provide a detailed scientific explanation on the topic of vibrations, which I would love to be able to do. I can only speak about what I have experienced myself, mostly regarding the form of vibration that´s more easily perceived by humans: sound.

In late December, I was lucky enough to participate in a yoga retreat in Madrid´s city centre, at a yoga studio called Yoga Retiro. And one of the main activities for us during those three days, together with yoga and meditation, turned out to be mantra chanting.

(Photo of the AUM symbol I got at a present in Yoga Retiro. Thanks, Swami Krishnananda and Durga Devi!)

I have to say that I loved the mantra chanting, and also that I found it a bit hard at the beginning, not being familiar with either the melodies or the lyrics (mostly in Sanskrit). But I gradually became familiar with them and started to feel more comfortable. My mind got flooded with memories from my younger years, when I used to practice another kind of meditative chants: the Franciscan prayers, El Palancar, Taizé. It was the same feeling of peace, contemplation and communion as back then.

A few days later, during the New Year's concert in Vienna, the orchestra conductor reiterated the message that music has the power to unite people. Because good music doesn´t stay only in our ears; instead, it touches us much more profoundly, it goes to the root of what all of us human beings have in common. There are even some who dare to declare that without music, there´s no life...

Because everything comes back to the same. The experts say that everything is vibration, including us. And science is now beginning to discover what the sages have been teaching us for millennia.

There are many paths to spiritual growth (not necessarily religious, though religion is there too), and each person has to find their own, but there are some fundamental elements that tend to appear repeatedly, and music and chants are present in every or almost every tradition. I have to admit that it´s one of the things I find most fulfilling, it´s always been, and that´s why I continue to investigate and learn. Sound baths, classical music and even Gregorian chants. Sound, rhythm and vibration to connect with something larger than each of us, to join the frequency of the Universe.

AUM.

Sound bath

/ binarybea / Leave a comment

I can´t believe today was Groundhog Day, and I didn´t remember! I´m usually well aware of it, but not this year; it didn´t even cross my mind.

Maybe it´s because lately, my life has been anything but monotonous, which is a good sign (if you don´t know what I´m talking about, take a look at this article).

Yesterday, for example, following on from last week´s topic, I decided to invest my time in something important and not urgent, so I went to a mini-retreat that included meditation, journaling, reiki and a sound bath in an amazing yoga studio located somewhere slightly remote and rural. I truly enjoyed it; it was a great way for me to recharge batteries (thanks, Esther and Isa, for organizing it!)

The part I was most looking forward to was the sound bath, which I loved, as expected; I had already participated in a couple of those somewhere else, and I highly recommend this experience to everyone. The sound and vibration of the Tibetan bowls and other instruments bring about multiple benefits, some more visible and immediate than others.

This reminded me that I also have a Tibetan bowl at home, though I don´t use it much; I´d like to start using it more often (here´s a picture; it´s small but has a nice sound).

Also, thankfully, the internet is full of melodies and sounds that can help us to relax, meditate, focus and many other things. Years ago, I remember hearing my yoga teacher say that listening to Gregorian chants was very beneficial; I was surprised at the time, but now I see that it makes sense: their vibration frequency is very similar to that of mantras, as both are variations of meditative chants.

Nature sounds, like ocean waves, rainfall or birdsong, are also good examples of sounds that help us calm down and get attuned to our own biological rhythm. In fact, some companies and public institutions use "soundscaping" techniques to design environments that foster the wellbeing of their occupants, incorporating certain melodies and sounds from nature.

This brings me to another point I wanted to mention: consciously choosing what we listen to (as well as what we say and sing) every day. We´ve all noticed at some point how hearing a certain song can change our mood, right? In reality, the sounds we perceive have a much deeper impact, even though we rarely notice. Perhaps, if we knew this, we would become a bit more selective and choose to surround ourselves with "good vibes" more often, without forgetting to allow some time in silence every now and then, for our mind also needs that.

I´d love to hear your thoughts on this; what´s your favourite sound? And what have you noticed regarding sounds and how they affect you?

You gotta be...

/ binarybea / Leave a comment

This week I participated in a choir performance at work, as we do sometimes for events organised in the office. It was great fun, I really enjoyed it, as usual.

Among others, we sang a song I have mixed feelings about: on the one hand, I really like it, I think it´s beautiful, and I´ve contemplated multiple times writing about it here, as one of the "conscious songs" I mention every now and then (examples here, here and here). But, on the other hand, some portions of the lyrics I´m not a huge fan of, starting with the title: You gotta be..

Hand pointing its index finger towards the spectator (the person is blurred in the background, wearing a suit and tie)

Here´s a video with the lyrics in English and Spanish, and further down I´ll tell you my thoughts on what I like best (and what I don´t like) about this song, written and sang by Des´ree.

Translation note: the line that says "stay together" was translated as "permanecer juntos", which doesn´t make sense in the context of the song; I think it refers more to the idea of "keeping it together", which we can translate as "mantener la compostura".

What do you think? This song encourages us to cheer up and be brave, and at the same time, embrace and even show our vulnerability (for those with Enneagram knowledge, it sounds like a very "eight-ish" song to me :-)).

I really like how it encourages us to learn from our parents, but then emphasizes the importance of having our own point of view when facing challenges, and taking the necessary time to get to understand the mysteries of life.

All good up to here. But now, what I´m not a big fan of is the chorus; I think it´s because of the way it´s written, not as a suggestion but as an order: you gotta be tough, you gotta be bold, you gotta be strong...

As if it was mandatory.

As if it was the only valid way of being in this world.

A world in which, by the way, you have to move quite fast; otherwise you will be left behind.

If I read this song carefully, I get the feeling that it was written (with the best intentions, for sure) by a person who understands life as some kind of fight. So, logically, if life is a fight, of course you have to be tough, bold and strong to be able to get ahead; weakness is not an option.

But let´s remember there are infinite ways of perceiving and understanding life, as well as ways of being in this world, and this is just one of them.

Personally, I don´t resonate with the concept of life as a fight, so in my world, being strong is not very important. Much more important, for example, is the topic of doing the right thing, which is why I resonate more with the part about learning from our parents (and initially, following their rules) and then developing our own criteria to guide us going forward.

In any case, You gotta be is a really cool song, in my opinion; it´s uplifting and empowering, and it definitely gives us food for thought. But above all, I agree with its last line, that´s the absolute winner in my view:

All I know, all I know, love will save the day.

What do you think? What parts of the song do you resonate with (or don´t)?

Why am I like this?

/ binarybea / Leave a comment

Has it ever happened to you that a song pops into your head and you get caught up in a loop, repeating one or two lines again and again, either in your head or out loud?

That happens to me a lot. For example, with a song by Orla Garland that I discovered within the Heartstoppersoundtrack; I love it! The title is Why am I like this?, which is exactly the line that´s repeated nonstop during the chorus 🙂

Hand holding a post-it note with the word WHY? written on it

Have you ever asked yourself that question? I get the impression that many of us do, and unfortunately, quite often in a negative way, as in: "What´s wrong with me? Why am I so weird? Why can´t I be more normal?"

Ahh, that´s the trap, believing there´s such a thing as "being normal".

We are the way we are, and there are as many ways of being in this world as inhabitants there are here on Earth. When we take this into account, the question becomes much more interesting: "Why am I like this? What makes me be exactly the way I am?"

And the reason why it´s so interesting is because nobody knows for sure. If we asked an anthropologist, a neuroscientist, a priest and an astrologer about the reasons behind a certain specific behaviour, I´m sure they would give us completely different answers, each of them based on their own experience and knowledge. Who would be right? We don´t know. Perhaps each of them would be able to see different pieces of this huge jigsaw puzzle of our personality.

We´ve already talked in this blog about how our brain loves simplifying, as it makes life easier while saving a lot of energy. One of the ways in which it simplifies is looking for a single explanation for each thing, as if everything in life followed a simple law of cause and effect. But deep down we know it´s not like that: at any given moment, there are multiple causes and effects influencing each other; that´s what makes life so complex, so diverse, and most of all, so unpredictable.

But then, how can we answer the damn question?

  • First of all, acknowledging that our personality is very complex, and that it´s influenced by many different factors (Alberto, my enneagram teacher, uses the analogy of us being an alloy of several metals, each of us with a unique combination).
  • From that starting point, we can observe, investigate, look out for patterns... Curiosity (without judgement) is what´s going to help us most in this task of getting to know ourselves, and others, better. We're going to start realizing things.
  • From there, theories and explanations of why we are the way we are will start emerging, and given that we´re not going to be able to know whether they´re true or not, the best thing we can do is choose the ones that help us the most, and then progressively verify and expand them as we find out more.

What do you think of this approach? I admit I've asked myself this question, "why am I like this?" many many times, as I've always felt a bit (or a lot) like an oddball. Maybe that's why I like the song that much.

And regarding being or not being normal, let me share two quotes with you. The first one encourages us to set aside our prejudices and generalizations, and to get closer to the other person so that we can get to really know them:

Viewed up close, nobody is normal.

Caetano Veloso

And the second one I find very funny, it's on one of my fridge magnets and it reminds me that on this topic we're all more or less on the same boat:

Remember: as far as anyone knows, we're a nice normal family.

Homer Simpson

In summary: deep down we are all oddballs, in our own unique way 🙂

Starry night

/ binarybea / Leave a comment

I can´t say that painting is a topic that I´ve always been interested in, or that I´ve dedicated much time to it during my life, but it is true that there are certain works of art that I find especially beautiful (or interesting), and that I´m really fond of.

Among them, there are several pieces by Vincent Van Gogh.

Painting: "room in Arles", by Vincent Van Gogh
Painting: "chair", by Vincent Van Gogh

I think this is mainly thanks to a coffee shop that existed years ago in Madrid´s city centre, Van Gogh Café, which my family and I used to visit very frequently, given its lovely atmosphere,, the superb food they offered and the fact that it was located just next to my parents´ apartment. I have very good memories of going to Van Gogh´s when the girls were still little, especially with my parents at lunchtime, and sometimes with the additional company of some of my siblings, siblings in law or nephews and nieces, whoever happened to be in Madrid on those dates. And on a couple of occasions, we also had big celebrations, with the whole family gathered together 🙂

The café was of course decorated with all things Van Gogh, with copies of his best known paintings scattered all over the walls, paper placemats printed with a collection of his many self portraits, and even a reconstruction of one of his scenes, with a real table and two chairs placed next to a big front window. Unfortunately, that venue closed down a few years ago, but the simple style and the vibrant colours of Van Gogh´s paintings stayed in my memory since then.

That´s why I was so happy when I recently got to see some of his paintings at the National Gallery, in London, including the one with the sunflowers (or to be precise, one of them, as he painted several canvases with the sunflowers theme), the chair you can see above, and this landscape with clouds that I didn´t remember seeing before, and that I also found quite cool:

Pero el que se lleva la palma en mi opinión es el de la noche estrellada, a la que hasta Lego le ha hecho un homenaje, y que también es uno de los cuadros estrella de la exposición interactiva (o como la llaman oficialmente, «la experiencia inmersiva») que hemos visitado este fin de semana en Dublín:

I loved learning a bit more about the life and works of this great painter, who was gifted with very deep sensitivity and an extraordinary talent, both of which sadly came together with a great deal of suffering, as it often happens in the world or artists.

There were several of his quotes that I found really inspiring, like for example:

«Si oyes una voz dentro de ti que dice que no puedes pintar, entonces adelante, pinta,,y esa voz será silenciada.»

«Las grandes cosas no se consiguen por impulso, sino a base de ir enlazando una serie de pequeñas cosas»

«El corazón del hombre se parece mucho al mar: tiene sus tormentas, tiene sus mareas, y en sus profundidades también hay perlas.»

«¿Qué sería de la vida si no tuvéramos el coraje de intentar nada?

Y también me acordé de que hace años alguien le compuso una canción preciosa, «Vincent», aquí la tenéis con la letra en inglés y en español:

Christmas carols

/ binarybea / Leave a comment

Yesterday I spent my afternoon listening to (and singing along to) some "villancicos", which are the traditional Spanish Christmas songs. I found a Youtube compilation that was very similar to what I used to listen to when I was little, a cassette tape with carols sung by children, and it brought me many happy memories.

Old looking sheet music surrounded by Christmas tree leaves and small pink and purple baubles

Some Spanish "villancicos" are versions of Christmas carols originally written in other languages, like Silent night or The little drummer boy, with soft and harmonious melodies. Then there are the ones originally written in Spanish, like "Los peces en el río" (Fish in the river) or La marimorena .(I really don´t know how to translate this one), with lively tempos, cheerful melodies, and instruments like tambourines and "zambombas" (which Google says can be translated as "friction drum" - it´s a typical Spanish thing). Anyway, as you know, Spanish people love celebrating things by being loud 🙂

To be honest, "villancicos" are some of my most treasured Christmas memories. Now thinking about it, I believe it has to do with them being songs that are passed from generation to generation, and that we can all sing together, the whole family. I used to love singing them myself as a child, and years later, when it was time for my daughters to learn them, I really enjoyed passing them along. It was as if, for a little while, I also became a child again...

For me, Christmas carols combine the power of music, which lifts our spirit and brings us together, with the excitement of Christmas. And if you look at it this way, they´re the perfect excuse for us to allow ourselves to become children again, set aside our worries for a little while, and truly enjoy the present moment.

What about you? Do you like Christmas carols? Which one is your favourite? And what other things make you feel as excited as a child?

Banda sonora

/ binarybea / Leave a comment

If your life was a movie, what would its soundtrack be?

Vynil record playing in a record player

Today I remembered again a movie scene I watched a long time ago, which gave me a lot to think about back at the time. The story takes place at a university, and the camera alternatively takes the place of one of the two main characters, a boy and a girl, who are walking along the corridors, about to meet each other for the first time. They´re both wearing earphones, and listening to completely different things: the girl is listening to classical music, and the boy is listening to heavy metal or something similar. The moment arrives when they meet, they look at each other, and each of them perceives the other from their own point of view, with their own soundtrack in the background.

To me, this is a scene of incredible storytelling powers. Without needing to use words, it perfectly conveys how different the world is for each of the two main characters, and how differently they experience that exact same moment, with the same external surroundings...

I think we have all had moments when a certain song or music piece has made us look at life in a different way: maybe it made our day a bit happier, it gave us an extra energy boost, or it brought us good memories. Some other times, we may have taken the opportunity to listen to some sad or melancholic music, to let ourselves experience those emotions for a little while. The best part is that we can choose our own "soundtrack" at every moment, and I´m not only referring to the music we listen to (though we can definitely choose that, and we're incredibly lucky for the existence of Spotify).

Our "soundtrack" is also made up of those thoughts that we keep repeating in our heads without even noticing, those stories that we keep telling ourselves all the time, which may either help us or harm us, give us energy or take it away from us. It is true that we can't completely control every thought that crosses our mind, the same way that we can't control what song is playing on the radio at any given time. But what we can do is pay attention and change the dial as needed, skipping to a different station that we like better and find more useful. And it's also a good idea to edit our "playlists" every once in a while, taking the opportunity to remove old songs we no longer resonate with and add new songs that we feel like trying.

What do you think of this idea? What is your life's soundtrack at this very moment? And do you feel like keeping it, or is it maybe time for a change?

Let´s sing! (and dance)

/ binarybea / Leave a comment

A quote that made a huge impact on me when I discovered it years ago (thanks Gleb!) was this:

No music, no life.

Quite radical... And probably quite true.

Because, who doesn't like music? OK, we may not all have the same musical preferences, but we don't necessarily have to, and it's thanks to those differences that there's such a variety of styles. But we can't deny that music has the power to connect us, to make us vibrate, to move us. It's a universal language. And if we add some movement on top of it, even better.

I don't know how to play any instruments (unless you count a few tin whistle lessons back in school and a handful of tunes I used to play on my Casio PT-1 keyboard), but what I do like a lot is singing. At work we are lucky enough to have a choir, and this month we've started singing together again in person, so exciting! 🙂

On the first day of in-person rehearsal, after two years of singing on mute on Zoom and not being able to hear each other, we were pleasantly surprised by the fact that we didn't sound that bad. And on day two, the surprise was that we had to learn a simple choreography for our song... So there you go, double challenge for the brain: singing without looking at the lyrics, and doing the dance steps at the same time! It would have been great to have a bit more space (we were rather crammed while rehearsing) and a big mirror like in a ballet classroom, but all in all, I'd say we managed quite well.

It felt great to get to connect and enjoy the music together again, singing and moving along. We're not anywhere close to being able to perform, but that's not the point (though hopefully it will come in due course). The reward we all take away from each rehearsal is a huge boost of energy and good vibes, plus starting off the afternoon at work much more relaxed and with a big smile.

So here's an experiment for you to try, if you'd like. Next time you feel down, stuck in a problem, or in any way short of energy, just play some music, start some movement, and see what happens 🙂

Violinists in the subway

/ binarybea / Leave a comment

Life is full of little details, of those details that go unnoticed when we´re lost in our own thoughts, which is most of the time. More often than not, our auto-pilot is turned on, and we´re worrying about the future or ruminating about the past, thus missing the present.

And of course, ignoring as we are all those details that make each day unique and special, it´s no wonder that we feel like we´re living in groundhog day!

But if we get to slow down a little, and focus on being alert and present as the mindfulness practice teaches us, then we start noticing surprising things, amazing things, wherever we are. Because there´s beauty everywhere, as long as we know how to see it.

I recently heard a really cool story related to this (thanks Paz!), an experiment that was carried out a few years ago in the United States. A superfamous violinist, one of the best in the world, set himself up as a busker in a subway station in Washington D.C., playing with his Stradivarius violin during rush hour. He played for almost forty-five minutes, and during that time, only seven people stopped to listen to his music, and only one of them recognized him. All the rest walked by, carrying on with their daily stress and worries… Is that really the way we want to live? Always passing by, only to complain afterwards about how we´re stuck in a rut?

The good news is that we can break that cycle. Each morning when we wake up, we have a choice between turning on the auto-pilot and living one more groundhog day, or shifting our perspective, and letting ourselves be surprised by the “subway violinists”: a spectacular sunset, your children´s joy when arriving home, a chat with a loved one…

Today´s “violinist” for me is realizing that this is the fiftieth post in this blog 🙂 What´s yours?

Conscious songs: Imagine

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This morning I heard on the radio that today would be John Lennon´s birthday, he would be 81 years old today. Let´s remember him with this song, which I find both beautiful and profound: Imagine.

And please, even if we have listened to it a thousand times, even if we think we know it by heart, today let´s give ourselves the luxury of really paying attention to the lyrics, immersing ourselves in their meaning, and closing our eyes to imagine how it would feel to live in such a world...

And then, if you feel like going a step further, I propose that you consider which sentence is the one that impacts you most, that confronts you most, and reflect on it a little, because in order to achieve that world that we imagine, everything starts within each one of us :-)

And I leave you with this quote, attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, that´s also very relevant to this topic:

Be the change you wish to see in the world.