Editor’s Note: This is a post in the series, Simplicity in Action.
Katrina
I believe that being when you are being deeply creative; you are in a flow of simplicity. I feel this flow of simplicity when I play my oboe. It is simply me, my music, and my instrument. Not much in a material sense is needed to create beautiful music. Music is manifested from the body, my senses, my instrument made of wood and metal, and the air. The air is simple. It does what it has always done and is predictable, even if we don’t always understand it.
I feel connected to the earth and the spirits when I play music because of the way the vibrational energy moves through me and my surroundings. I love to think that I am sending the vibrational energy I am creating to others and they are feeling the warmth. It is me and the air.
There is a certain ritual every time I play my instrument. I set my instrument case in a safe place, and methodically take it out of the case, put it together, and prepare it to be played. Every time I open the case I smell the sweet richness of the wood and I feel the cotton velvet case which protects its body. Ritual helps me to feel simplicity. Something inside me is able to take over and I’m able to just BE. I then prepare my own self by taking deep breaths, looking over my music, and warming up by playing notes slowly, imagining all the warm air circulating inside in my instrument. I imagine any stale energy around me becoming fluid and jovial again. It is all about the air.
Being creative allows flow, and flow is where the simplicity is. Once we find the way our creativity flows, we can begin to learn what that feels like and apply it to other areas in our life. Whether it is the way we are with our partner, the way we take care of our surroundings and our bodies, and through the daily thoughts and actions we perform every day. It is when we are feeling stressed, at our lows, or when we feel our minds running chaotically, we should take time to remember how that flow feels. When we can reconnect with that simplicity our minds, bodies, and daily lives seem to run much more smoothly.
Don’t be scared to find that flow and embrace it. Every person has his own language of what simplicity means and how it feels.
You can read more from Katrina at Exscapes.
GREAT post, Katrina. As a trombone player myself, I don;t feel as if my body (and world) is working correctly until my air is flowing through the instrument properly each day. Never thought of my practicing as a form of simplicity…but I will now. Amazing!
Thanks Tony!
This is beautiful. The way you talk about energies and flow is, I think, the way most people feel but lack the words (or courage) to express.
A closely-resonant passage from the great 13th century Persian poet Rumi:
“Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
“Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”
That was beautiful. I feel the same way, when I’m playing the piano or writing. No matter how difficult of a time I’m going through, I know I’ll be all right, if I can keep doing either of those things.
Very nice post Katrina, thanks for sharing.