Where Have I Found Beauty

Where have I found beauty? Most of my life it's been in sound, in music, be it the intricate interplay of instrumentation, or in a single soulful voice. In the sounds of the wild, most recently the birdsong I haven't heard in 15 years. I remember a story Keith told me, of holing himself in the wilds of Northern Quebec in order to write his next album. Beside his cabin was a small brook, and later, when it came time to record, he found that all the songs were in the same key and rhythm as that moving water. Sound still resonates with me, as just this morning, the ding of the wake-up bell made me long for ice cream.

More recently, I've found beauty in light. Yesterday, I was struck still, paralyzed by the shimmer of light tossed by the windmill onto the pine tree before the Zendo. Wim Wenders taught me this wonder of light, with the yin and yang monochrome of "Wings of Desire." I'll never forget, a day after watching that film, standing on the small bridge behind Shimogamo shrine, unable to move yet again, not wanting to lose the play of sunlight on water passing below. This reflection on reflection is always a treat, always a surprise, never knowing when the light will once again stop the world for me.


On the turntable: "Red Allan (Giants of Jazz)"