Raindrops of Memory

Beautiful droplets of musical notes cascading gently from an electronic box; they take me to a place before computers. People long ago were a lot like us, I presume. They had wind, music, they made passionate love, they struggled, got sick, broke bones, had families. Men and women abused their power, were shadowed by greed and envy. Some were simple and true, others tortured. Sometimes it is important to enter the timeless seam that binds us all. We are connected to our ancestors, our grandparents, even kings from a distant land long ago. We are human beings. We vary and differ, but the essence of our nature escapes no ordinary or extraordinary person on this planet.

I am hungry for life. I am hungry for food. I have visceral and literal taste buds. Both appreciate decadence of the material and the esoteric. The winds, the sheets, caress my skin and I feel sensation, I also can feel another’s broken heart if I can or will feel my own. Phenomenal we are. We seek to think outside of the box, we indulge in our natures; most of us can understand and sympathize. Even the coldest human has a heart that can be reached. We are both beautiful and decrepit. We are clean porcelain, and a dung soaked burlap sack. We smell like roses and manure.

The sound is like a memory. Deep in my body there is a code in my DNA that has me recollect feelings that have been passed down to me; longings, hopes, dreams, wistful thoughts, the yearnings of a race that came before me. Before this computer age, before the clan of the blue face people dominated western culture. What can I learn from these notions brought to me on the musical notes painted by a composer who lived a life so different than my own, and yet was observing the same human nature that resides in us all? Joy, war, heartbreak, addiction, it is no new story. Your life has been lived before and will be lived again. We are all connected, and we can learn from the past. It can help us map where we are going. We can dream a collective dream of acceptance, awareness, kindness, love and respect. But to communicate with our DNA we must imagine. Perhaps it is helpful to ponder where our race has come from, to study history from the art, music, food and literature that came before us. The expressions of longings that are just like those you feel today. The context may have changed, we want to change as a race, but perhaps we should discover how we have stayed the same, have compassion for ourselves, create understanding through acceptance, as well as revel in our similarities. Being Human is complex, joyous, and difficult. If we know who we are we may be able to improve on ourselves, but perhaps all of the gifts have always been there, discovered in raindrops along the way. If we remember we may realize that life is circular. We have triumphed before and we will triumph again.