Author: Bhagavati (Sharon) Nani

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The magic of a waltz

So, I wrote about a delightful video yesterday, which — of course, I had to view a few more times today, in company with spouse and friends who I roped in to enjoy it with me.

And it got me to thinking about the magic of 3/4 time, also known as “waltz time”. There’s just something so uplifting about it…

I was recalling a Christmas season many years ago when I still lived in San Francisco. I’ve never been a big fan of large shopping centers and try to avoid them entirely at Christmas time. But for some reason, I was in the Stonestown Galleria and feeling a little frazzled.

Well, as I walked out of Macy’s I realized that Tschaikovsky’s the Waltz of the Flowers was playing over the sound system and immediately started feeling better. Then, as I came down the escalator, two things happened: one, I overheard people humming along to the music, and two, I saw a couple laughing as they danced a few steps together to the music.

Even after all these years I really can’t find the words to describe just how wonderful I felt in that moment — united in joyous harmony with complete strangers through the power of uplifting music!

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Absolutely brilliant!

There really are no words to describe how wonderful this is to me. It’s beyond satisfying. I laughed out loud in pure delight a number of times and — while sitting by myself in front of the computer — applauded widely at the end.

It helps that they’ve used one of my absolute most favorite pieces of music — the Waltz of the Flowers from Tschaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite ballet. It’s hard not to feel wonderful while listening to this piece of music.

But I think the thing that just makes me want to cry cause I love it so much is the visual representation of the rhythmic precision. This guy gets it! And because he does, it resonates with me and makes something in me feel validated on a very deep and subtle level.

I especially love the moment of rhythmic perfection with the orange ball (start here at 2:33 and be ready for it!)

And the twelve seconds starting at 0:40 (and lasting until about 0:52) make the flutist in me very happy. Someone explained it quite well in the video comments: “I also like how you kept the flute mordents (twiddly bits like at 0:43!) with the circular magnets.”

The creator, DoodleChaos, has a number of fascinating videos like this that I look forward to sharing in future. In the meantime, I dare you to watch this and not smile. 😂

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Doing “a Devi”

Perhaps my all-time favorite photo of Jyotish & Devi.

I’m still buzzing from this afternoon’s wonderful satsang in Crystal Hermitage dome, with Jyotish and Devi and thirty or so members of the “Next Wave” (“young” friends of all ages😄).

It’s always such a thrill being part of a gathering of such great souls — starting with Jyotish and Devi, of course, but including so many other divine friends who are shining so brightly!

My favorite moment of the satsang came when Devi was making a point about one of the hallmarks of how we “do” things at Ananda, which is to always be on the lookout for where energy wants to flow.

She shared how she was enjoying lunch in a restaurant with three women friends, but had noticed an older woman seated all alone at a table. When two of her friends went to the restroom Devi felt inspired to “do a Devi” (her words!), so she walked over to this woman’s table, sat down, and started a conversation with her.

I’m sure that woman is still feeling the joy of the experience hours later! Devi conveyed the story in such a humble and down-to-earth manner that one could (mistakenly) think it was no big deal. But I immediately found myself thinking of how beautifully she’s embodying one of Swami Kriyananda’s most endearing qualities — the ability and the commitment to see everyone as a friend, reaching out to them in divine love.

I’m sure Swamiji was very pleased. 🙏

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Nobility

We’ve spent the past three Friday nights watching The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. I read The Hobbit for the first time when I was nine years old and found The Lord of the Rings a couple of years later. From junior high school on, and well into adulthood, I would read the entire series pretty much every year.

So it came as a relief to me that the movies were so well done, bringing vividly to life a world that had lived in my imagination for so long!

At this point I view the movies knowing which brutal parts I can skip watching, while looking forward to the many incredible and uplifting scenes of bravery and self-sacrifice, of transcendence and triumph, of true friendship and kindness.

But something new occurs to me after this latest viewing. I find myself reflecting on the contrast between the nobility of fictional characters such as the king of Gondor (Aragorn!) and the king of Rohan versus the current British royals. I mean, I’m sure they are all lovely people in their way, but not exactly heroic.

Of course, you can’t really compare the times we live in with those of Middle-Earth, but I can’t help but feel that nobility of spirit is more and more lacking in our culture.

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More good news, bad news

The good news is that — thanks to a full dose of melatonin — I was in bed by midnight (literally couldn’t stay awake any longer)!

The bad news is that — thanks to that same full dose of melatonin, combined with a couple of weeks worth of sleep deprivation — I overslept this morning.

The take-away? This just might work if I can get myself to take the melatonin earlier in the evening, allowing for a decent night’s sleep. I’ve got to figure out something, because the lack of sleep is really starting to be an issue!

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Oh goodie!

I get to be honest and authentic and admit that I’m in a funky mood. Che gioia (what joy)!

This is one of those times when the path of wisdom is to quit while I’m ahead. Good night.

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Forever friends

Our junior high school yearbook!

I had brunch the other day with my friend, Eileen. I’m totally dating myself by sharing this, but we’ve been friends since meeting at Thomas Russell Junior High School (go, Falcons!) in 1968. Yeah, that’s a long time ago!

We remained close friends throughout high school but then our paths diverged — greatly! Eileen married young and was my first friend to have a baby. She majored in civil engineering, while I studied music. She has a total of four children, while I never raised any. She’s always lived in northern California, while I’ve roamed rather farther afield.

We did have a period where we completely lost touch for a few years, but we eventually found our way back to one another. And despite all our differences we’ve managed to stay friends for fifty years.

Now that’s a forever friend. 💕

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A last bit of Christmas

We enjoyed a last little bit of Christmas inspiration tonight. Angela’s Christmas is a very sweet animated film based on the book “Angela and the Baby Jesus” by Irish author Frank McCourt.

This is how it’s described on IMDb: “Set in Ireland in the 1910s, ‘Angela’s Christmas’ is a funny, heart-warming and poignant story about the power of family and the innocent desire of a child to ensure everyone is safe, warm and loved at Christmas time.”

We both loved it and suggest bookmarking it to watch next Christmas!

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Comparisons are odious

But I tend to make them anyway.

Recently I was enjoying yet another wonderful Facebook post by some dear friends in India who always seem to be doing something new and fun and dynamic. Interesting posts and intriguing videos seem to appear every day. Plus they’re teaching classes and offering support and just overall building an amazing work.

And sometimes I have the feeling that I’m simply not doing enough!

But then I had a realization: so many of my friends on the spiritual path are in their 30’s and 40’s, and when I was that age I was just as busy and my life activities were just as fun and dynamic– except everything centered around the flute: practicing for hours a day; finding gigs; preparing recitals; taking auditions; traveling; and enjoying “satsang” with other dedicated musicians.

It’s useless, but I can’t help wondering what it would have been like if the goal of all that expended energy had been finding God, rather than the perfect gig.