Comfort Food For My Mind

April 6, 2021

COMFORT FOOD FOR MY MIND

Music is comfort food for my mind. It has the power to up root deep seeded memories of long ago. I remember those Saturday morning chores of carefully dusting off my dad’s 8-track tape player and turntable. Then I would turn my attention to his vinyl collection and pull out Herb Alpert – ‘Rise,’ released in 1979. The sounds of ‘Rise’ brought back memories of my Grandfather. I loved how the notes flowed, and the clapping of hands. I would zen out on memories. After all, my love of certain sounds definitely comes from my ancestors.

Let us fast forward to last year - (that year I will not mention). I noticed when Oscar Peterson was playing in the background, I was able to focus more on my writing. Maybe, it was my love of jazz, or the arrangement of notes and chords. Actually, hearing Peterson’s ‘Hymn to Freedom’ over the radio, would cause my pen to stop strolling across the paper, or my fingers to stop feverishly typing. The melody, chords, gospel and jazz sounds brought me to stillness.

I found myself listening for his signature rumbling of his fingers across the piano keys. Those moments are priceless. I found myself imaging a place of emptiness in my mind. Nothing to think of, no deadlines to conquer, and no reminder alarms to set. Just being present with the chords, the pulling of strings on the Bass, and tapping of the Hi Hats and Snare. Truth be told, I can sit for hours and write, when Mr. Peterson is playing in the background.

More recently, I work with individuals with different abilities, and lunch time vibes are smooth and jazzy with ‘Chillhop Radio’ on YouTube. Chillhop’s main character is an animated Raccoon. The Raccoon is dressed in a hoody, wearing headphones, and will sometimes pull out a mobile device to check for something - maybe the next song. Apart from that, Chillhop has a variety of scenes and moods to choose from. We like the Raccoon, taking a casual daytime stroll, zenned-out.

One client often blurts out with giggles, “The Raccoon, he’s cute.” I look at the client and smile, as she goes back to eating the lunch her mother prepared. It’s not easy to get group approval for music; everyone has differences in genre and decade, but they all agree that Chillhop’s “jazzy lo-fi (low-fidelity) hip hop beats” meet their standards of good sounds. And let me tell you, the room gets quiet. Well, you might say, ‘Of course it gets quiet! Everyone’s busy eating!’ Some environments can be loud, even during lunch. But, our environment is quiet, peaceful, relaxing, and calm; as we ride out the lunch hour on taste, smell, touch, sound, and a Raccoon.

For deep healing moments, I turn to Kundalini activation music. The music is a powerful blend of chants, percussions, and Gongs. I press “play” and doze off. I wake up feeling rested, full of energy to start the morning with reading, or writing, or yoga, or a cup of hot coffee – or all of them.

The “therapeutic soundtrack[s]” I turn too, bring stillness to a busy mind, a busy environment, and a busy room. Yet some sounds resonate on a deep spiritual level more than others. Perhaps that’s why I love Herb Alpert’s profession: being an artist - a trumpet player; using his hands to created something beautiful called ‘Rise.’

Different and yet similar; my Grandfather was a Master Carpenter in Barbados. He too used his hands to create many beautiful things. His zen sounds might have been the hot Bajan wind whipping pass his high cheek bones, or the hymning of Spirituals from Ladies passing by, on their way to evening service. Perhaps, it was the sounds his tools made as they craved and chiseled wood. In the end, his “therapeutic soundtrack[s]” give rise to mine.

TCBEST