Day 55 – Wind Chimes

February 2, 2015

(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)

 

Wind chimes outside my door.

Wind chimes are like sprites that dance and sing joyfully in the wind’s invisible breath—even in the cold howling winds of February like today. No matter how bleak it is or how unpleasant it might be to be outside with the wind cutting through even the warmest coat, the sound of these chimes lifts my spirit and resonates in some deep recesses inside me.

I observe how an unseen force makes itself seen by how it creates movement. It is possible for something that is invisible to move through things that are visible. Love is invisible until it reveals itself through someone’s actions. On the other side, hate is invisible until it shows itself on someone’s face, in someone’s words or actions. I wonder what else can be seen through how it moves in something else.

A sitar, used in some of the Beatles’ music and introduced to a broad audience by Ravi Shankar, has 6 or 7 playable strings and 11 -13 sympathetic strings (tarbs) under the frets. This produces a distinctive sound in the gourd body.  I first heard a friend play this instrument and was fascinated by his explanation of the sympathetic strings. The instrument carries a haunting sound.

On a metaphorical level, I am the sympathetic strings. Sometimes I lie in bed and breathe in the resonance of my wind chimes. This is peace and joy.  

My gift today is resonance.

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> DAY 56 The Other Side of Certainty

You can read my other posts on this project here:

http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html