Grace notes

 My sister and I had a lovely day.

It was one of those beautiful, September days. A holy day. A day where sunlight dances on leaves, and looks whiter, cleaner, purer. If light can look any more light.

It was an allowing day.

Where the energy felt kinder, less static.

The green, greener.

And hope clings on the edges of the sunlit leaves, kissing them.

The air felt soft, and loving, with that autumn tang everyone can taste, and smell, and feel. The apples are starting to fall off the trees, and the air is getting cooler outside.

Dragon flies have been buzzing everywhere. It’s fun to ride my bike, and have them zig, and sag alongside me, as if we are racing.

Our neighbor offered us a load of chopped wood. We’ve been meaning to gather wood for some time. So Bess and I went to go get a couple loads. It was quite fun, and so much easier than going to the mountains to get wood. And they had the wood all slit. We felt very lucky. And thankful.  By the time we were done, the sun had set.

I was about to go to bed, but the mosquito tuck zipped by, spraying poison. I was in my tent, so I ran inside, and rested. Then I decided to play some koto, and then decided to write some.

I’m trying to learn how to tune the first five strings of the koto mostly by ear. And I’m still getting the hang of it.

It’s funny, because if you tune the first five notes of the koto, you can tune all the rest of the strings. But you have to get the first five notes right.

Harp strings.

I feel like if I could do this with my writing, if I could get the first five notes right. Tune my heart, to my higher self, spirit mind, if I could flow without stopping or starting myself, and trying to fix notes in the middle of playing them.

If I could do this.

If I could tune them to some higher keys, and be clear enough that whatever I played at, the notes would be as smooth, and easy as breathing in and out, and easy to let go of, and easy to allow to be.

A sound.

That, for a moment, vibrates, and for a moment, we are in tune to the sound.

Some beautiful chord.

Grace notes.

Now nice they sound.

If all my words were filled with those little trills.

Notes that don’t have to be there, but, if you can add them, make a beautiful, sound.

Yes.

We all need grace notes.

For ourselves, and everyone else.

Words that you give out, in the inbetween places.

Unexpected.

Beautiful.

Grace notes.

A kind word.

A seeing and a saying that doesn’t have to be there, but is, because it adds something beautiful.

A thank you.

A smile.

These are the things that add a richness, a vitality, a goodness to this life.

An expected hand to carry things that are too heavy.

A patch of sun in a middle of a storm.

A cheek turned, an extra mile walked.

Grace notes.

These are the things that can end battles.

And why do such notes exist?

Why should we give them, over, and over again?

Because giving grace notes keep your heart open, they are the little door jam making sure light still gets through.

And so…

I’m just here for a moment.

And these are my thoughts tonight.

Grace notes.

And sometimes we have to give them to ourselves.

That moment you stop working when your body is tired.

Grace notes.

When you forgive yourself.

Grace notes.

When you allow yourself.

Grace notes.

When you flow, and find that childlike wonder, that keeps no scores, and plays, and follows fun, explores, and cries when something hurts, and laughs when something is funny, and tells the truth without fear.

Grace notes.

Beams of undiluted light.

When you trill out, unexpectedly, fearlessly. A little ray of truth floats out of your mouth.

A moment you love yourself in ways that only you could.

That is my aim.

And if I fall short.

I suppose I’ll sing again.

A little grace note that says,

I’ve just popped in to say, hello.

Life is beautiful.

The sun is still shining.

Good hearts still exist.

Birds still fly.

Flowers still bloom.

And like a suncatcher, we catch these notes, and when the sunlight hits a facet, a grace note comes through, a rainbow dances on the windowsill for you to catch with your eyes, and hold in your hearts.