Thursday, March 1, 2007

Beatle Meditation - Abbey Road

I had 2 grade disappointments today. This semester is going very far from good. :-( So after my last class I came home really upset. I didn't know what to do, then I saw my new John Mellencamp album that I just bought. I decided to get out my record player. Instead of putting on John Mellencamp, I decided to actually listen to my copy of Abbey Road. I had a copy that is in really good condition and therefore I had never listened to it for fear of scratching it. But I wanted to hear the real version of Golden Slumbers, so I got out Abbey Road and put it on side 2.

Then I sat down on my bed to enjoy it.

But I found myself thinking about the day and all of the stuff that I have to do and my grades and how I have over stretched myself. Then I realised that I had almost completely missed the first song. I cleared my minded and just started listening.

But then my mind wandered to the Beatles and how they traveled to India...

No, Hailey. Just Listen.

Then I decided that I was hungry and wanted fishies.

No, Hailey. Just Listen.

Maybe I could look at the pictures in the Bhagavadgita.

No, Hailey. Just Listen.

"Is this wasting time?"

No, Hailey. Just Listen.

Then I started thinking about other people and my relationships with them and what I needed to do and what if something happened to one of them and...

No, Hailey. Just Listen.

"How many songs are there before Golden Slumbers?"

JUST. LISTEN!!

Finally, I did get my mind to calm down enough to enjoy the music. After the side was over I realised just how distracted I was. I guess that is what meditation is for - getting your mind to stop going crazy.

I also noticed a couple other things that stopped me from enjoying the Album to its full potential. I kept wondering what the song was called and where one song stopped and one started. It occurred to me part way in that that didn't matter. Things didn't have to be labeled just right.

I also kept wondering what could be different. Would listening to this be better if I had a friend with me? What if... Finally I calmed myself down and realised that it didn't matter. I was listening to it by myself and I needed to enjoy it that way.

Another thing that I did was to anticipate what was coming. Would the next song be faster? slower? rockier? smoother? Again. That was distracting. I just needed to take the song as it came.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These are great lessons to learn, but I just need to make them apply to my life and everything would be great.

Horizontal Rule