Getting unstuck

Witnessing this video and seeing the possibility of gradual freedom from emotional baggage was healing for me and brought these three old songs to mind:

and

and

Language of the heart that I need to hear today

 

The following is from the YouTube channel where I found the above video:

Written by John as an expression of his love for Yoko Ono, the song is heartfelt and passionate. As John told Rolling Stone magazine in 1970, “When it gets down to it, when you’re drowning, you don’t say, ‘I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,’ you just scream.”

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Yesterday while driving up the steep hill that leads to my home, I saw a dead deer lying on the sidewalk and found myself screaming in anger and grief through my KN95 mask.  When I got home a few minutes later, I called 911 who then contacted those who could remove the deer's body from the side of the road.  I am fortunate to have the help I need today and always.  The Beatles are part of that.

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Gratitude to George Harrison and Ravi Shankar (revisited) / A quiet transcendent joy that I can feel to this day

Just days after we graduated from high school in 1967, three of us -- Betts, Doris, and I, drove south from Redwood City to Monterey for the afternoon set of the Sunday portion of the Monterey Pop Festival on June 18.  We knew next to nothing about Ravi Shankar.  Tickets to his concert were the only ones left by the time we tried to buy tickets.  All the other concerts were sold out.  Betts and I and two of her friends had been at the last concert the Beatles gave at Candlestick Park.  The week before we had been to the Magic Mountain Music Festival and Fantasy Fair on Mt. Tamalpais and seen The Doors.  In my mind, I can still hear the drum and guitar opening of "Light My Fire" and remember how it felt to be walking around in the sublime sunshine on Mt. Tamalpais, looking out on the fog bank below.  

But those experiences, as exhilarating as they were, faded in the first moments I heard the sacred music of India in Monterey on that cloudy day when I was filled with a quiet transcendent joy I had never experienced before.  George Harrison attended the Monterey Pop Festival.  He had met Ravi Shankar in 1966 and studied the sitar with him.  They became lifelong friends.  George brought something of India to the Beatles.  Some of George's ashes were scattered in the Ganges River in 2001.

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A few mornings ago when I was doing my daily yoga practice, I was moved to find "Chants of India," a CD by Ravi Shankar, produced by George Harrison.  At times I have listened to that CD as the background to my yoga practice but have not done so for some time.  

As I've said before, I'm not a religious person but I've been moved by aspects of all religious and spiritual traditions and the insights of those who remain outside of all traditions.  

There is something about music and chanting in languages that I don't understand that reaches parts of me that are otherwise inaccessible.  

 

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Come to think of it, the first moments of hearing the Beatles on the radio in 1963 brought a certain transcendent joy to a 13-year-old girl who had very little joy in her life up to that point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm655GLATzM

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"... knowing that love is to share ..." / here, there, and everywhere during these hard times / Weather report and Hoopoe

 

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Mostly cloudy here with blue sky appearing and disappearing.

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Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da Life Goes On

Had not heard of film "Yesterday" until a week ago.  A suggestion related to it appeared on YouTube shortly after I was looking for John Lennon songs there.  Our public library had a copy.  After watching the DVD this morning, I'm grateful to have had it brought to my attention and want to share it with everyone now.

Below is the ticket I saved from my high school days when my friends and I were at Candlestick Park in San Francisco for the Beatles' final concert.

Listen to the birds and watch for a man on cross-country skis.

We had some snow and temperatures in the teens and then it warmed up and rained.  There may be a little more snow before spring but not much.  During the snowy time I saw a pair of raptors who perched in a cottonwood tree to the northeast of my porch for a sustained period of time as well as a green-winged teal (hard to see -- third from right) walking on the frozen pond with several mallards.  I don't know that I've ever seen a green-winged teal from my porch before.

January 30, 1969: "... It's a love that lasts forever ..."

Thanks to NPR for reminding me how good it felt to be 19 years old and in love.

Good Morning, Good Morning

I've got nothing to say, but it's okay.  Good morning, good morning.
(The Beatles)

All You Need Is Love

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you
in time - It's easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)
All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
(Lennon-McCartney)

Today is my nephew's 20th birthday.  His favorite music comes from Sam Cooke, The Beatles, and The Head and the Heart. 

For anyone who hasn't seen the video below before, that's Lee on the left singing "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher."

Happy Birthday, Lee!

Love always from your Aunt Amanda.

Senegal Yellow / Cobalt Blue / Titanium White

After working through early rock and roll and then the Beatles, Tim Buckley, Laura Nyro and James Taylor, I started above painting (still in process) while listening to the "Songs of Leonard Cohen," released December 27, 1967.  I had forgotten how much darkness and bitterness and alienation there is in many of those songs.  My selective memory had embraced the tender moments and blocked out everything else.  I was 18 years old when that album was released.  My recollection is that Richard introduced the album to me, and that we listened to it in the months before he was drafted in spring of 1969. 

 Thank you, blog friends, for your continuing comments.  I hope to be more conversational soon.  My life is unusually full right now.

(Hmmmm .... the video of my painting in process appears to be uploaded, but when I publish there is a white space where the video should be)

(Update:  Now I can see the video)