The Taming of the Smaller Things

There are some days... that are perfect.

Okay, I'm over stating that one. There are some days that come so incredibly near perfect that I just want to roll up in happiness and die on a cloud! Here's the breakdown folks.

I started off sleeping in... something that usually only happens on Sunday's! When I awoke, I was greeted by a cup full of Florida's Natural Orange Juice (a delicacy and breakfast all on it's own.) A cold shower proved invigorating and SO nice, I could have died just then and there! Here's where it starts to get good.

I read The Little Prince . A VERY heartwarming story and a captivating read for ALL audiences. The story warmed my heart, for several reasons. Because of where I am in my life, just period, just because of where I am, and the people I know, and the friends that I choose to interact with on a daily basis, this book struck extremely true. Another is the message it sent. I was deeply touched by the idea of you become responsible FOREVER for what you've tamed! And in some sweet nostalgic ways, it made me want to go out and tame a few things, friendships, hearts, laughter, knowledge. There were things then and there that I wished I could tame so that I could have them FOREVER, and have them be my responsibility and my pride and joy. And paradoxically, I thought... I wish there were some things in life that I HADN'T tamed. I didn't want my name associated with those things, and people, places and situations. You become responsible forever for what you've tamed. Be it in the world or a single heart, the seeing heart. One only sees clearly with the heart, anything essential is invisible to the eyes. Choose wisely what you tame, you heart, emotions, friends, or even other hearts, for you become responsible for them forever. It's the time you spend in taming that makes it so important, not to the rest of the world, but to you. Too many people forget this truth, and far many more WANT to overlook it. You become responsible forever for what you've tamed. In the book, a boy takes care of a single rose, and cherishes it with all his heart. When he comes to earth, he sees rows and rows of BUSHES of roses! He becomes immediately disheartened at the fact that his rose is not THE ONLY rose, and that there are THOUSANDS out there just like it! A fox offers some great words of advice, It's the time that you've spent with your rose that makes it so special. He says, and the boy becomes contemplative of that. How true it is that it is not the NATURE of the rose (person, heart, talent, pursuance) that makes it special, the but the attention and nature of love that you've given it, the heart felt support that you've put behind your rose that makes it special. A wonderful book, if you've not read it, put it in your instant queue, there are some life lessons that need to be gained from the buddy!
Next on the list was a well needed visit with an old friend and good brother. Together we discussed music, made mystic grilled cheese sandwiches (Havarti on wheat... changing things up a bit. Whoa!), and started the second season of Sherlock! And let me tell you, I LOVE SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE!!! His writing style is SO eclectic, and when the spin off's of Sherlock Holmes come around (of which there is many) I can't help but get myself involved. I am often heart broken at their feeble attempts though, and it makes me sad when they miss so horribly the feel that Sherlock Holmes tries to capture. But Sherlock (the BBC series) is magnificently BRILLIANT!!! Mind. Blown. That's just how the series works... that's just how it works... mind blown... that's all... GAH! Anyway, I was surprised at the invitation to go see the American Piano Quartet! How could I pass that up, four of America's best Pianists, eight hands gracing two pianos for just over an hour and half!? SIGN ME UP!!!  (I think it was an hour and a half... it went by sooooo quickly, the music was amazing, though we did get rather caught up in all the critiquing their notes where too heavy, their sound was muddy, too much bass on the second piano's part, more even tone, phrasing was TOO pointed, harsh hammer on's, very few tender resonant moments, felt like there was too much exceeding power in the feel of tender moments, longer key strikes lead to blurry notes, moments of shrill technique almost twinged the string, dissonating the tone and quality... ANYWAY!) They had their quite exquisite moments, and their... less exquisite moments............... but all in all quite a wonderful performance... though I would venture to say that some of the college students performed better than they (especially the Nikolai Rimsky-Korsikov, Flight Of The Bumble Bee was spectacular. And SO CLEAN too! That NEVER happens. Back to the story.) To meet up with another old friend at that concert was a treat, and sit and talk music at the Pita Pit (all three of us) for a few hours, was splendid. To tell theory jokes that no one ever gets, to make fun of appropriately placed solfege, and reminisce about all of our piano performance days (one of these days I'll post some demo tracks for you guys to listen too... just having a hard time getting the right tracks or time to record... sorry : / ) And when all of that was over (I know more right!?) came the icing on the cake.

After the drive home, I was dropped off at a friends house (were my bike resided for the time being, I bike everywhere!) and I rode my bike home in the rain.

I. LOVE. RAIN.

I
LOVE
RAIN

ILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAINILOVERAIN. I don't think I could ever emphasize how much I love the rain. The sound, the smell, the feel, the mood... all of it. I LOVE THE RAIN! To bike home in it was SO euphoric. SO euphoric in fact, that I used it to seize a bucket list opportunity.
For the longest time... I don't know why.... I have wanted to ruin a suit by biking in the rain with it... so I went home and did exactly that... ruined my Alfani! :DDDD I know right!!!??? SO GREAT!!! I could have died, it was amazing! After about five miles in the rain and soaked ruined suit, i headed home... but that wasn't the end... I laid down in the garden... which was now mud, and surrounded by flowers, mud, and rain, I gazed at the gray sky and felt the invisible raindrops attack my skin. And in that moment... life was perfect. ..... Okay, I need to stop saying that... ALMOST perfect, there was just one or two things missing that would have made it PERFECT, but it will be someday ;) I just laid in that front yard for probably forty five minutes... soaked to the bone... in mud... in a suit... panting my heart out after an intense five miler... 

There are rarely moments in life where you can just literally SOAK IN, the moment. So beautiful. It got me thinking... nothing was over the top today (except for maybe the suit.... okay... the suit was over the top...) for the most part, it was just another ordinary day. BUT... here's the deal. There were small things that I had never really appreciated before. Many people would think, PIANO CONCERT FOR TWO HOURS!!! SHOOT ME NOW!!! or something along the lines of RAIN!!! Again!!! But I wanted to go running tonight!!! or more like It took them this long to get Sherlock onto Netflix!? What's people's problems now a days! I realized that, instead of grudging the things that COULD have been taken as poor or annoying... why not save the energy and simply enjoy them. I was baffled at how instantly my life turned around today. Yes, I'm missing people. Yes, I'm sad about certain events in my life. Yes, Yes, Yes. But that's life... face it dude. Life sucks, it just does. But here's the deal. I'm SO excited by what life has to offer me and what I can learn from the "Sucks!" I'm so excited to take what bad is going to come my way and become a better person because of it. There are SO many adventures to be had and SO many wonderful things to do, why waste your time focusing on the poor and negative things. Stop wasting yours and my time, and your energy. This is nobodies plan for success, nothing was ever accomplished by dreading the things that had to be done that day, do them and become a better person. Love what you do, and learn from it for the better. It's amazing what can be done with the simple conservation of energy. Find an excuse for it, be too lazy to get angry or annoyed. Use it as a revelatory paradigm shift. Use it to help others. Use it to help yourself. Invest in only good things. Invest in only what you want to tame and be responsible for for the rest of your life. I'm certain that everyone would ONLY want good things to be tamed and to be responsible for ONLY good things. It's time to tame the smaller things and enjoy the whole process.

If I can love the world, so can you! Tame wisely and love recklessly. Until next time. Au Revoir!