Rinse and Repeat…Rinse and Repeat…Rinse…and…Damn…It…Repeat

One-hundred-and-twelve years ago in 1969, I was obsessed with the album by the Doors called Soft Parade.  I was a senior in college living in our sorority house.

Oh.  I loved my sorority sisters.
Oh, I wanted to be with women.
Oh, I did.
And I didn’t even know it.

Anyway, this album.  I would play it over and over, accompanied by my trusty, monogamous companion, my hash pipe. I was convinced my hash pipe was magical. This particular pipe didn’t even have to be filled with any substance to work its wonderment on me.

One (me) could simply get high by lighting the pipe itself!

Magic, 1969-style.
Or so I thought.

The album had crazy, dizzying lyrics that I couldn’t follow.
When I could, I didn’t like them.
I think.
The music was all over the place—as was I.

But there was one line.
ONE line.
I would wait and wait for it.
It would come, and
Open into me such an ecstatic doorway
To drug-induced bliss.

Here’s the line:

This is the trip.
This is the best part
Of the trip.
This is the trip*. 

~~~
Was Jim Morrison onto something?
And/or was he on something?
I certainly was.

But think about this line now, friends.
This is the best part of the trip.
This moment.
Right here.
Right now.
This is
The trip.

And it’s always
The best part
Of the trip
Because
The moment,
Each moment
Holds the entirety
Of life.

This moment.
Right here.
Right now.
~~~
There are plenty hard moments
Unfolding for me
These days.
Maybe you, too?

I’ve been practicing
Soft Parade
When I’m overwhelmed
With feelings.

I can get anxious in the car.
When I am aware and able,
I think,

This is the trip.
This is the best part
Of the trip.
This is it.

And you know what?
No matter what is happening,
Being in the moment beats
Worrying about it.

The power of being
Present in the moment.
The gift of being
Right here
Right now.

The deliciousness,
The fullness,
The feast
Of what is.

Some feelings are
More comfortable,
Obviously,
Easier,
More familiar.

But/and we get them all.
Don’t we.

As I practice Soft Parade, 
I stay for a touch of time
In the moment.
And then I leave.
And then I start planning
About stuff that
Hasn’t
Happened
Yet.

And then I re-trigger
Myself…
Abandoning the moment
By doing,
By busyness,
By external demands.

AND THAT’S OKAY.
Of course we leave.
Of course we do.
That, friends,
Is the human dilemma,
If you ask me.

So, then what?
Rinse.  Repeat.
Rinse. Repeat.
Rinse.
Repeat.
Keep
Practicing.

Keep coming back.

That’s it.
That’s all.
That’s everything.
~~~
Thank you, Erika, for sending on the Woodpecker Quarter.  Four Scandinavian women committed to sharing the brilliance of the recorder.  No, it is not just something we fool around with as kids.  Check out this lovely and delightful music.

I would say, this is a pretty darn different form of music from the Doors.
But truly, certainly music lands us,
Smack and dab and deliciously,
Right into each moment.

I invite you to listen to four recorders play, of all things, Bach.
I encourage you to allow the music to welcome you into the moment.

 

 

WOODPECKERS RECORDER QUARTET