Saturday, October 3, 2009

Soothing Sounds

Himalaya, a film I recently saw, brought to my mind and ears prayer flags flapping and snapping, prayer wheels spinning and clicking, gongs striking and echoing, and monks holding low tones. The visual images flooded me with sound -- contemplative, meditative, calming. Gregorian chant, the music of Steve Reich, and even the chromatic piano etudes of Claude Debussy have the same effect.

All are beautiful, but I love none so much as wind chimes.

These days I'm lucky. I spend three hours a day in a shop with plenty of wind chimes. Friday, because the wind whipped and many customers wandered in, the chimes tinkled and gonged off and on again throughout my mid-day shift. At one point, alone briefly, I gave into temptation and played them for myself and my camera.

Enjoy wind chimes. Surrender to wind and contemplation.

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