I was sixteen years old, a sophomore in high school. I was walking up the huge staircase of steps in the bleachers of the large gynasium/auditorium to find a seat for the assembly that was to start in fifteen minutes. My Spanish teacher, Mr. Kennedy, had let us out of class a few minutes early so we’d have time to drop off our books in our lockers and get seats in the designated section of the bleachers. It would be crowded as all four grades were to attend.
As I walked up the steps, the sounds of voices, creaking stairs, whistles, and shouts surrounded me. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. The magnificent sound of French horns and timpani drums arrested me. The high school band was doing their last practice of ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’ by Aaron Copland. I had never heard anything like it. I was stunned in amazement.
“You compose because you want to somehow summarize in some permanent form your most basic feelings about being alive, to set down some sort of permanent statement about the way it feels to live now, today.” He composed many magnificent works and worked with many marvelous people.
“To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable,” he also said.
Frida Kahlo was unconventional to be sure, creative, artistic, and lived her vision. “I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.”
She changed the world with her vision and uniqueness, as well as opened doors for women artists and Mexican artists. She believed in herself. “Nothing is absolute. Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies, and goes away.”
Both she and Django Reinhardt, gypsy jazz guitarist and composer, suffered severely from horrific accidents.
Yet they were called to go on.
“Jazz attracted me because in it I found a formal perfection and instrumental precision that I admire in classical music, but which popular music doesn’t have.” He, too, changed the world and opened entryways for musicians and guitarists to explore, feel, create.
All three of them followed their intuition and vision. They each found meaning and richness in life, amidst adversity.
A close friend and I were talking recently about finding meaning. What is the meaning of life now? As our kids are adults with their own lives, meaning has changed. The question is how do I find meaning? There is no longer a time clock to punch or a supervisor to answer to. I chose my activities. Where can I find meaning? How do I express it for myself? How do I move through the world with meaning?
Uncertainty used to be a place of anxiety for me. Now it is an opportunity. What do you think?
Thanks for reading~ Merci beaucoup.
