Yesterday I shared one of the reasons I prefer acoustic piano, or voice, as we can control volume according to emotional intensity within the artist and directed by composition.
Rhythm and how fast or slow a piece of a portion of it can affect or reflect our emotions.
A piece can hold many speeds from grave to presto. Like conversations. We don’t speak one or the other. Well, except certain chemistry teachers in my past during the first period. Hence a C… But that’s another stream.
Music reflects life which is both fast (is it already the third of January?) and slow (why does Christmas take so long when we’re kids?)
First of all, I want to lead you to Barbara’s take on ‘Magnify’ as it reflects my own journey with screens and reading and tools that can help those issues. Click here.
The reason I love the acoustic piano more than my electronic keyboard is that you can express emotions on it. With signs, you can guess how hard or soft a touch you need to bring out the depth of a song.
See the less-than sign?
It means to gradually
minimize your
touch.
The greater-than sign <
<
It means
You play quietly and
Magnify your touch
I have not found the ability to do that on my electric keyboard with feeling. Nor can I do that on my recorder. I know you can with a violin. But it is most satisfying when singing with a choir, and the director and music ask you to unify as you and your fellow singers magnify the sound.
The voice magnifies so well. Sometimes you need to whisper. But there are times for an actual
Today is the day I reflect on possibilities. I don’t resolve. I have never found change in pure willfulness. Instead, I think globally, universally, and down to cellular possibilities. The things I want to delve into with thought, prayer, and desire. Some say cellular is universal. Reflecting on how the atom looks like a solar system keeps my thoughts meandering. When we think of the word ‘enthusiasm,’ we learn that it breaks down to ‘God in you.’ And that is when I draw the conclusion that if I feel excited, and if I spend the time being mindful about it, I can breathe a spark into a flame. Writing about the ideas helps me to decide if it’s worth it for me. We can’t be everything; we can’t be perfect. But we can grow in areas we feel drawn to.
Last year, in October 2024, on the advice of a friend (thanks, Yve), I found an old financial journal and turned I into a piano journal. In a few days, I will have filled all the pages. I started by sitting at the piano just long enough to enjoy the feeling. Sometimes that was to play a scale or diddy, as long as I could feel the joy. The minute it felt like work, or was in any way painful, I got up and walked away to do something else I might enjoy. But I wrote the bits I did, how long, feelings about the piece, and a bit of a grade of how well I did. Not to judge myself, but to watch for improvement and have a recording of what worked for me.
I have gained confidence and skill, going from five-minute gigs to over an hour. I even did a couple two-hours stints. I loved being deeply into the music, filling my heart with beauty. Not of my skill, but how it all works. I will be looking for a new music journal. It doesn’t need to be much, and I am sure I have an empty something with lines around here.
What I won’t use is my everything journal. My husband gave it to me for Christmas. Isn’t it gorgeous? It came with its own pen (I may replace it with an erasable, as a perfect journal will hurt me if I have a bunch of scratch-outs).
Now I need to write my first entry. Shh! No peeking! Possibilities are popping. And I must meet them with mindfulness to cultivate enthusiasm. New habits await.
I’m always up at midnight. So mostly I’m up. I don’t party. But my husband, family and friends share our wishes of the best for the new year.
2. Have you ever kept any New Year Resolutions made in the past?
Long ago a bestie and I made the decision not to resolve but to write possibilities. Things we’d like to see happen and put our thoughts towards. Often, for us, that works as a better way to find where to apply our energy.
3. Do you have any plans for 2026?
My aim for everyday is to improve myself. I am the only one I can control and that is a challenge on my best days.
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “batter/better/bitter/butter.” Use one, use all four (for bonus points), use ’em any way you’d like. Have fun!
The player on home-plate stirs butter into the batter as the jeers of, “Bitter!” ascend.
She was last to be picked. But now she has an idea to make it better.
Working on my series: Haven.
Doodler (zendoodle.com)
Music major: voice and piano
Mom of four great adults
Reiki II practitioner
I have been on disability/retired for 10 years now from depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
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