Playing piano has always been a meditation-like exercise for me. Whenever I was grumpy as a kid my mum would tell me to go and play piano, as she knew it would fix whatever was wrong. I’ve had a difficult day and driving home I was contemplating wine or chocolate (or both) as
The School of Life and Alain de Botton’s philosophies on everyday life are quite enlightening (despite Alain’s frightfully posh British accent). Watch this video for a clear and simple explanation of the power of music over the human heart and mind. Then go and stick your favourite CD in the player.
Here’s a happy tune, you’ll love to croon …
I discovered this fabulous little song on a Bing Crosby duets album that I picked up in an opshop one day. Ridiculously cheery and guaranteed to put a spring in your step even on the gloomiest of days. Bing’s brother, Gary, does a wonderful job
Be like a chicken – find happiness in the little things. A tasty slug here, a little seed there, some new shoots, a scratch in the mulch, dirt bath in the sun … fluff up your feathers a little!
Building things and solving problems makes me happy. The chicken have moved in and seem happy in their new palace. It is a fine construction built with my kids and my dad. To the stranger it may appear to simply be a chicken coop, but I see a memory palace – the day
Yesterday’s image got me thinking about letters – the real ones, written on paper, folded into an envelope, arriving in the mailbox out the front – and what a joy it is to send and receive them. In my first week in my new house a little postcard arrived in the mail from
As a qualitative researcher, I’m normally quite suspicious of quantitative measurements. However, there are times when the numbers are both meaningful and deeply satisfying. I just updated my song list document – I haven’t done it since January when was sitting around the century mark – and discovered that it now numbers 180.
I’ve been cleaning and sorting out sixteen years of living in my little orange brick house. It’s been hard work work, physically, mentally and emotionally, but there have also been many tiny moments of joy as I find long forgotten letters, kids drawings and curious mementos from past lives. And stashed cash in
Here’s a little bit of Dinah Shore to round off the weekend. Dear Hearts and Gentle People was a hit for Dinah in 1950. Bing Crosby and Perry Como, among others, also recorded the song, written by songwriting team Sammy Fain and Bob Hillard. It’s happy and wholesome, impeccably arranged and recorded.