Taking Music Back--It's happening all around.

In the last two weeks, I discovered how freeing and wonderful it is to try to freestyle, not really worrying about rhyming or anything in particular except just keeping a string of words flowing from your mouth. It works best when you stop thinking completely and just let it roll.

Since Julia and I did this in my living room and then freestyled in front of the class, I've found myself taking out my notebook before I go to bed and doing a free-write/freestyle to just see whats going on in my head, because there's a whole bunch going on there! It was amazing to see Obama win the election and hear his speech. The ending "Yes We Can" part of the speech was like music to my ears. There really is a rhythm we can tap into when we're writing or speaking that just changes everything.

I really enjoyed our readings by Henry Partch and John Cage. Both of these men show that what you are curious about in life is really important, and when you follow it you will discover things the mainstream will never touch because its too "weird" or different... but its so interesting. And I just feel like there are so many curiosities I want to explore in my lifetime. This gives me hope that such a life of exploration is possible. Henry Partch also inspired me to mess around with tuning my guitar in new ways to see how it sounds and not always conforming to the intervals our ears have been trained to accept as correct. There's all kinds of music out there. And I'm starting to hear it every where I go.