Collected Writings
Classical music, the love of my life – Armando Iannucci
Sunday May 14, 2006 Observer I can't sing, can't even whistle, and, until recently, couldn't really say I played an instrument. That last omission officially changed two weeks ago when I received a certificate that said I'd managed to persuade a professional in the room for 10 minutes that …
Read moreWallace Stegner, “to a young writer” (1959)
...."For you.... it will have to be art. You have nothing to gain and nothing to give except as you distill and purify ephemeral experience into quiet, searching, touching little stories...and so give your uncommon readers a chance to join you in the solidarity of pain and love and the …
Read moreDegrees of Compassion
1. Linear Compassion: What we feel for friends, family, spouse/partner, and children, those with whom we are emotionally close and are most like us. The bond is reciprocal, allowing empathy to flow. The output of compassion is directly proportional to the input and is mutually satisfying. 2. Parallel Compassion: …
Read more“Cries and Whispers” (ending), 1973
All my aches and pains were gone The people I am most fond of in all the world were with me. I could hear their chattering around me. I could feel the presence of their bodies....the warmth of their hands. I wanted to hold the moment fast and thought: …
Read moreon Work
"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep …
Read moreOn a Single Note (D. Rothenberg)
Be your own unique traveling self and have a time place to come back to; take the forces of nature & tame them into sound. Shut out all else. Concentrate on the one. Strive for the perfect tone that will render all other tones excessive & unnecessary. Simplify, constantly simply …
Read morePractice
Practice …is to free the body of destructive patterns, habits and acts of carelessness. …is to free the mind from greed, hate and fear. …is to cultivate inner awareness, to discover depths of meditation and to realize psychological and spiritual insights into the nature of things. …is the active …
Read moreFree Play (excerpt); S. Nachmanovitch
With time, the need for the familiar tune matters less. There is so much to concentrate on in the single sound. I envision a future where all I want is the Truth, the infinite possibility, of a single tone. Only when this purity seems nearly within reach is one ready …
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