Back to Basics

I have a cold. I hate to complain, but it's been a little bit miserable. Today, as the world seemed to have gone crazy on the news, I was exhausted and dehydrated so I turned everything off and lay down for a much needed nap.

I woke to find more depressing news coming from the television with hopelessness, anger and tragedy occurring all over the world. I had no idea what to blog about. I let the dogs out and ate dinner. Earlier in the week, I started to read a Charles Dickens book (a Collection of Christmas Stories) where I found some inspiration in the introduction and thought I might try revisiting that for some uplifting blog material. Then the phone rang.

It was a friend who was on a long road trip home for the holidays. She had been passing the time by trying to harmonize to a Simon & Garfunkel song, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and had gotten stuck near the 3 minute mark. It was driving her crazy and she wanted help figuring out the harmony. Alright.

I pulled up the version she had been listening to and was ready to dissect the harmony when I realized there wasn't any until the end. It turned out that she had been inventing her own harmony. I had to hear what she had been doing. She sang along and I listened. When we got to the end, we came up with a vocal part that was consistent with what she had been creating up to that point. When the harmony on the track came in, she wanted to invent a third note instead of singing along with what was already there. We had so much fun!

She is not a professional singer and it was not work. It was play. It was a nagging problem for her that we solved together. We had a riot trying out different notes, dealing with the cell phone delays and the humor of the situation. Soon after we finished, she reached her destination. So did I.

My focus had changed. I had turned off the news and worked on something creative. My cold didn't seem as miserable and I had a revived spirit. (Smile.) It was just what I needed. It was also in perfect alignment with the song's meaning.

Click here for "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on Songfacts.com

Things can get intense this time of of year. Carving out a little space for reading a book and singing a song proved to be the perfect thing for me. As we all go crazy getting ready for the holiday - cooking, cleaning, traveling, standing in line, spending too much money, getting colds and feeling worn out, here's wishing we can all find our own space for peace.

There are always those precious moments. There are those times when we see old friends, when we give or receive the perfect gift, when we smile at the joy of a child on Santa's lap, or that moment of gratitude when the tree seems perfectly magical. There's the humor in typical family squabbles and the warmth of laughter - plenty of good spirit to be found if we look for it. In addition to all of those things, there are those quiet moments in our own heart when it's just us with ourselves. Here's hoping we smile when we are there.

Wishing you all the peace and joy of a beautiful holiday... Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah.

Namaste,
T

I had the pleasure of singing background vocals for this version - behind Jacob on American Idol