"When you begin to think outside the box, you often become some other "leaders" lousy follower. That usually costs something" (Andy Rayner)

"Our guardian angels are bored." (Mike Foster)

It's where I feel I'm at these days. “In the second half of life, it is good just to be a part of the general dance. We do not have to stand out, make defining moves, or be better than anyone else on the dance floor. Life is more participatory than assertive, and there is no need for strong or further self-definition” (Falling Upward. Richard Rohr.120).

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Wasting Sweetness

"This music out of the sertāo, music made of the dust, sticks, rocks, fickle women, mean shopkeepers, fate, death, sun.

I listen for twenty minutes, for half an hour, keep tight control of myself to not break into tears, to keep from dancing, embracing the singers, taking out all of my money and laying it at their feet. In some sense that I don't understand, it is the most overpowering music I have ever heard; I want to sob, laugh, clap, and jump around; I want to shake one of the listeners, and old man, who seems unaffected and yell at him, "But listen, listen, this is incredible."

As they sing, as they lose themselves in the music, their faces become transfigured. They are radiant with a pleasure that comes from doing something with flawless skill.....

If there is sadness in watching the singers it is one that is grounded in my American sense of values. It is sad to watch great artists wasting their sweetness.....

...... the glittering sound of those tambourines like a gush of water and those pure, plain voices revealing something profound and true about Brazil." 

- Moritz Thomsen. The Saddest Pleasure: A Journey On Two Rivers 

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