3.4.24

Thought  

Take a particular case: what does it tell you about somebody that they begin to like (for example) West African music? Well, it tells you that their focus of attention as a listener is starting to shift. Nigerian music downplays harmony and melody in favour of extremely rich and complex rhythmic meshes.

These engage a different part of you: they are extremely physical and movement-oriented. They deal with the body, an area that Western classical music (for example) rarely addresses. When a listener is moved by this music, and is allowing herself to accept the idea that her body is a fit focus for artistic attention, she is saying (in the words of the artist Peter Schmidt) that the body is the large brain. Our cultures, which have made such a big distinction between men of action and “men of thought,” might find this hard to accept: all our hierarchies are based upon the idea that the brain is good and the body inferior. I believe that in the process of being moved by Nigerian music, you begin to empathize with another view of the universe, another picture of how things work and how they fit together. And in noticing how you have the capacity to empathize with that, perhaps you take a further step and begin to suppose that the cultural values are also "possible" for you. 

— Brian Eno – Why World Music?

Quote

Author and poet Eden Phillpotts on the universe:

The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

Intention of the Day

My intention is to release the doing and live in the present moment.

Happy Monday,

Val