Moments of comtemplation and serenity

[Catmando]

Hello fellow BBB members!

I was sitting on the couch relaxing this fine afternoon, in a contemplative state, staring outside at the clouds in the sky. You know......those brief yet REALLY enjoyable and peaceful moments.

Well, on that thought, I wanted to ask my fellow BBB members what gives them such moments of peaceful, serene joy and bliss?

In addition, are their any particular pieces of music that give you that feeling as well? Here are a few of Catmando's:

1. LVB's Pastoral 6th Symphony - II movement (Scene at the brook). This piece does it for me every time. Beautiful!

2. Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Although there are some very upbeat and lively movements, the softer movements put me in that reflective mood.

[RC]

I'm a music lover but nothing beats the music of a western meadowlark for a feeling of serenity.

Late afternoon/early evening, cottonwood seeds floating down through cool air, snort of a horse, random bee, smell of sagebrush and dust, last calls of a meadowlark.

Oh, and do you know who Yani is? LOL...JK

[Catmando]

Late afternoon/early evening, snort of a horse, random bee, last calls of a meadowlark.

Very interesting RC, I like those observations. (by the way RC are my initials too)

I love bumble bees, used to chase them when I was a child!

Here are a few more:

Call of a mourning dove, smell of freshly baked bread, a warm breeze.

[navneeth]

A wide open space with a clear nightsky!

For now, I have to live with just 30-40 stars on one of those nights, though.

[navneeth]

What happened to your other accout, Ray Just curious.

[RC]

I grew up out west and it's been years but I had dreamed about it last night. 'woke up this morning, and there was your new thread. Struck me as a pleasant coincidence. Now that I'm holed up in Florida, I enjoy the sound of the bamboo stalks clattering in a breeze...still...get that old heart tug for a western meadowlark.

I have a dilemma when it comes to classical music. It's hard to describe but I'm guessing lots of people will recognize it. I think sometimes I might be forever short of where I want to be. A place where I can hear what I think was meant without continually analyzing every little piece and part. For whatever reason, I can't seem to completely relax and just hear it. Kinda pisses me off really. I just can't seem to get the big picture all the sudden...the forest for the trees...grrrr

I hope it's like a bad golf stretch and I'll just grow out of it.

Claire de Lune, if not trashed up for the lobby of a fancy hotel, still puts me at ease. It was playing the day I married and again the day I returned from the hospital with my first born. Seems de rigueur to pass it off as tacky today but I can't help it. I love it dearly.

When I'm really stressed out, I listen to a CD called "Divinity 3" which is indian; flute, sitar, sarod, etc... it's specifically designed to chill you out and it works like a charm.

Good grief. What a flake. Maybe I should give Yani a try after all. Maybe I need counseling.

[Catmando]

What happened to your other accout, Ray Just curious.

Actually, it's still the same account, Navneeth. I just wanted to change my "nickname". A few people at work call me by this nickname.

Ray

[navneeth]

What happened to your other accout, Ray Just curious.

Actually, it's still the same account, Navneeth. I just wanted to change my "nickname". A few people at work call me by this nickname.

Ray

Oh ok. BBB is the only forum I visit which allows the user to change his/her handle.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

... where I want to be. A place where I can hear what I think was meant without continually analyzing every little piece and part. For whatever reason, I can't seem to completely relax and just hear it. ...

I'll try to explain what works for me. If I get muddled, forgive me, because I'm trying to use words to convey the non-verbal.

Find your personal center of gravity. If you are a dancer, gymnast, fencer, martial artist, etc. you know where it is - it's that 3D pivot point at your center of mass/center of momentum. If you're a woman, it's just about the spot where the baby was sitting on the first day you suspected that you might be pregnant.

Find your center of self. I keep mine in my head, well behind my eyes, and it's the place I am when I'm watching things on the inside of my forehead. (Yes, I really see them, just not with my eyes.) I don't know where other people keep theirs.

Feel your pulse, and feel your breath. Balance your centers. Listen to the music but keep your attention on balancing your centers.

If there's a proper name for all this, I have no idea what it is. It also works for keeping your sanity when six teenagers are playing video games in the next room.

[analog]

That deep blue in the summer sky framed by green leaves. Varnished oak.
The motion of a canoe across still water on a cool evening.

Music? I prefer a tune that picks me up and carries me along with it, and it needn't be a specific genre - Brandenburg Concertos, Muldau, Ghost Riders in the Sky; Johnny Cash or Nana Moskouri or Mannheim Steamroller all serve well.

I don't know enough to analyze music, though am learning some basic vocabulary from a children's book I found at the thrift store. I look forward to comprehending some posts on the music threads.

No, thank you, to Yanni.

[Hexameron]

For moments like this I prefer to be in a forest at dusk or on a cloudy day with one CD in my headphones: a custom burned CD of only Vivaldi's slow movements from his concertos. For some reason these melancholy but serene baroque movements help me relax and feel tranquil. Some think (glares at Stravinsky especially) that the good ole "Red Priest" rewrote the same concerto a hundred times, but I disagree. Vivaldi has a habit of using the same key and rhythms for these works that they sound alike. But for the CD I made, this makes it all the better. I'm hearing mostly 2-4 minute adagios/largos/andantes and because of the uniform key, style and rhythm, the whole CD sounds like a continous epic musical collage which always manages to inspire contemplation and reflection.

So for that, I think it's just impossible to find Vivaldi's slow movements disagreeable. Just like "Mozart is sunshine" (Dvorak says), I find Vivaldi's slow movements a cool breeze.

[DavidS]

I will admit that I am less discriminating.
At the moment I am listening to bits of Haydn's "Seasons" on the local radio. Heaven!
Next up is Schumann's 2nd Symphony.
Good to be alive! (and living in Israel...)

[RC]

...

Find your personal center of gravity. ...

Find your center of self. I keep mine in my head, well behind my eyes, and it's the place I am when I'm watching things on the inside of my forehead. (Yes, I really see them, just not with my eyes.) I don't know where other people keep theirs.

Feel your pulse, and feel your breath. Balance your centers. Listen to the music but keep your attention on balancing your centers.

If there's a proper name for all this, I have no idea what it is. It also works for keeping your sanity when six teenagers are playing video games in the next room.

Sounds like meditation to me. I really need to try harder, supposed to be good for you mentally and physically.

[Catmando]

Some think (glares at Stravinsky especially) that the good ole "Red Priest" rewrote the same concerto a hundred times, but I disagree. Vivaldi has a habit of using the same key and rhythms for these works that they sound alike. But for the CD I made, this makes it all the better. I'm hearing mostly 2-4 minute adagios/largos/andantes and because of the uniform key, style and rhythm, the whole CD sounds like a continous epic musical collage which always manages to inspire contemplation and reflection.

So for that, I think it's just impossible to find Vivaldi's slow movements disagreeable. Just like "Mozart is sunshine" (Dvorak says), I find Vivaldi's slow movements a cool breeze.

Nothing wrong with familiarity. I cringe whenever anyone says that Vivaldi rewrote the same concerto 100 times. I'm not a musical expert by any means, but I know what I like and love, and I love Vivaldi's concertos, and so do millions of music lovers.

Very well put Hex.....when you say "Vivaldi's slow movements are like a cool breeze."

[Jane]

Well, on that thought, I wanted to ask my fellow BBB members what gives them such moments of peaceful, serene joy and bliss?

I always get that feeling when I'm out in the mountains when no one else is around. However, the thing that gives me the greatest feeling of peace, serenity, joy, and bliss is when I am with my family: just talking, whether we're scattered around in the family room or piled on my parents' bed, just talking with one another. It's epecially great when my sister and brother have us laughing so hard that the tears are squshed out of us. I just really enjoy being together and sharing thoughts, ideas, and experiences with one another. For me, nothing else quite compares.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Feel your pulse, and feel your breath. Balance your centers. Listen to the music but keep your attention on balancing your centers.

Sounds like meditation to me. I really need to try harder, supposed to be good for you mentally and physically.

I think "try harder" short circuits the whole thing. You probably need to try easier.

[barfle]

I've created a room in my basement where I can play my music, usually pretty quiet and fairly dark. The room is far from done (see the "Projects" thread for excuses), but I can get lost in the music down there. The seating is comfortable, the acoustics are acceptable, and the music is simply sublime.

This may not be the right thread for this particular moment, but even though we're not quite done with project monster laundry room, we have laid out another project that may well be another place of sublimation. We have trees behind our house. I wouldn't call it a forest, but it's a small wooded area. There is a spot among the trees where we have decided to build a small patio and seating area. It's a bit secluded, and if the neighbor's bloodhound isn't making a damned fool of himself (and his owner), it's quite peaceful. You can sit there for five minutes and the birds and squirrels come back. Carolina wrens have the most wonderful serenade!

[Serenity]

2 things: Om & Zzzz