Call of the Loons

Last week, I drove to a lakeside cabin in northern Minnesota and returned to the call of the loons. Midwest loons are the same species as those of the Adirondacks, my heart’s home.

Common loons call out to one another across a misty lake. Their sound emerges from stillness and silence. Before dawn, I paddled a kayak to the center of the lake to listen. It’s a resonance like none other, haunting and healing.

Take a brief moment to appreciate their beauty:

When we make room for stillness and silence in our lives, we hear a soul-stirring sound. We’re moved by, changed by, a call we must somehow answer.

This sound often becomes amplified during transition times. Like the sunrise or sunset that invites the loon’s cry when humanity settles, our inner call emerges when our thoughts settle.

We may recognize an inner nudge to heal a broken heart or to trust a new, amazing opportunity. The call might beckon us to soul-awareness or to a renovation of our life’s work.

For me, it takes courage to perceive this penetrating signal because I know it will be life-changing.

Yet when a loon-lover friend of mine sits in quiet, the environment awakening around her, she says, “The revelation is so compelling, I go into it with love, affection, and beauty— without needing courage.” Maybe that’s you, too.

Are we willing to be still and wait—to hear, to accept, and to answer?

That is the call and response of living as music.

[Want more loons? https://www.nature365.tv/video/2024-04-29-loon]

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Piano player and elephant playing music together outdoors in clearing.

Interspecies Music

Elephants World, a self-supporting sanctuary in Thailand for special needs and rescued elephants, provides an unexpected studio for making interspecies music.

Until 1989, elephants in Thailand worked for humans in the logging industry. When logging was banned due to deforestation and floods, these animals needed protection. Today, the elephants play in a new way—making music with their human caretakers.

Pause and enjoy this unusual trio. (1 min):

In human interactions, we sometimes feel like we’re talking to a different species. Of course, we’re the one making music while the other person is blaring dissonant, unintelligible sounds.

Yet, if it’s possible for human-elephant connection through music, surely we humans can learn to play better together. What’s a good way to go about this?

Notice what the Elephants World pianist does. He brings his instrument into their habitat. He’s not expecting them to walk into his practice room.

He also lets them be elephants. He’s not trying to convince them to be otherwise, or to make other than elephant trunk sounds.

We don’t have to be of the same genus—or even have the same perspectives—to harmonize. This is what interspecies music can teach us!

The next time you find yourself feeling like an upright piano in a field of trumpeting elephants—stop, and just listen. Look for a way to bring your song and theirs to a higher level of composition.

It won’t work every time, but if you can recognize that you’re playing different instruments, you can step into their world a bit.

Maybe you’ll discover how seemingly dissonant sounds can coexist.

That is living as music.

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Split screen—devastated coral reef on left; vital coral reef on right

Songs of a Coral Reef

Around the world, marine biologists are doing awe-inspiring work to restore precious coral reefs through sound.

Sound is an indicator of vitality and essential for coral reef survival. A recording of healthy reef sounds played over compromised reefs in Australia, for example, doubled the fish population.

When an Indonesian reef was destroyed by a fishing practice using explosives, scientists replenished the underwater treasure—bringing back the coral larvae.

Watch and listen to this amazing transformation (1 min):

How cool is that?  

Ecoacoustics can monitor and revitalize marine ecosystems through broadcasting healthy sounds. [Read more on the Caribbean revitalization in the Royal Society Open Science journal.]

What can we learn from these songs of the deep?

Perhaps we ask ourselves, what part of my world, deep inside, needs healing or replenishing?

And as a way to revitalize, we find the music that brings that depleted part back to life.

Think of it as creating a playlist for personal thriving. Soothing sounds from nature, favorite love songs, or original compositions (improvised and otherwise) might reach into that deep, deserted place.

So might the simple sound of our own heartbeat.

Ecoacoustics teaches us how, just like sound’s regenerating impact on life-giving oceans, we can be renewed.

That is living as music.

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Picture of Jacob Collier conducting his audience in singing harmonies.

Jacob Collier Creates Community Harmony

A community sound leader today is Jacob Collier. By creating beautiful, improvised harmonic experiences, Collier brings his audiences together in music.

Take a moment to notice how you feel right now, then listen to this extraordinary sound (2 min):

Do you feel differently after hearing this music? How so?

Harmony is heart opening, and it’s also mathematics. A surprising fact about this technique is that it’s quite simple. The sonic result is layered, so it may appear complex to create. But more than anything, harmony requires simple listening.

You can bring harmony to your family, friend group, classroom, office headquarters, courtroom, restaurant, Zoom call — anywhere you are, whenever you’d like — by listening differently.

You don’t even need to conduct the music. All you need to do is be the one who’s tuning into the overview, paying attention to where harmony already rings, where notes meet in the space between.

Two practical examples.

You manage a corporate team. You notice the common ground of disparate factions at a group meeting and speak up to say, “One thing we all agree on here is…” A single commonality serves as the strength of unison and the necessary first tone upon which to build harmony.

You’re a waitress at a restaurant. You begin to pay attention to the rhythm of co-working where timing is key — chefs to servers to patrons. Just by noticing the dance and your part in it, you begin to create a level of community harmony in your workplace.

Naming and noticing. Seems so simple. It is.

That is living as music.

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Young Sugar Chile Robinson smiling while playing the keyboard

Sugar Chile Robinson

What is it that delights us about a child prodigy? Surprising talent flows naturally and joyfully in someone so young that we’re baffled.

Where does it come from? Whether we believe the gift is in-born, earned in past lives, or a simply a mystery, there’s no denying the result.

Smile big as you watch Sugar Chile Robinson at age six (less than 2 min.):

Did you happen to notice Sugar’s hands on the keyboard? Young Sugar Chile hits the keys in a way that suits his hands, not the restricted manner in which a player might be schooled.

We each have talents as natural to us as piano was to Sugar Chile at age six. We play the keys in our own way. But sometimes our gift is so natural to us, we don’t even recognize it.

I had a friend who could listen to anyone’s story without making a ripple. Holding profound respect at being invited to listen, the storyteller’s pain, joy, growth, learning, or simple observation emerged in all its fullness.

He never saw his gift as any big deal. But we did.

What’s your unrecognized gift? Maybe you just naturally:

  • know how to be patient when someone needs extra time
  • make others feel included in social situations
  • keep a cool head in an emergency
  • lighten a heavy moment with humor
  • repair any machine that’s broken
  • appreciate animals and advocate for them
  • distill complex ideas into simple, comprehensible statements

What’s most common to us may seem insignificant. It’s not. It’s music!

Today, when you notice someone else’s “invisible” talent, name it for them.

Help them see, and maybe you’ll begin to notice yours, too.

That is living as music.

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The Sound of Laughter

The sound of laughter is universally human. It brings joy. It’s also contagious and builds connections because who doesn’t love joining in a good laugh?

Babies show us full-body abandon in laughter. They couldn’t care less if it’s a socially appropriate moment or not—and they find humor in the most common things.

Pause and enjoy this baby who finds sneezing hilarious (1 min):

Jean Houston once said that at the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.

What a great way to be more creative, find new solutions to stubborn problems, and turn a bad day into something better. Especially when we can laugh at ourselves.

Think of a moment you did something really stupid. (easy, right?) Can you find the humor in your misstep? Laughter shatters shame. Yeah, you looked like an idiot. So what?

Humor also bonds us. When I share a joke with my 9-year-old grandniece, our age difference melts away. When we find commonality in laughter, we find our friends.

Today, ask life for an opportunity to find humor. Appreciate the sound of laughter as part of your day. Share a snicker with a stranger. Break through a disagreement with your partner by chuckling at how ridiculously attached we get to our own viewpoint.

And for one week, try marking Laughter on your calendar at 8pm. If you haven’t guffawed that day, find a funny video, pick up a comic book, or call a friend you know will split your gut.

That is living as music.

Oboe up close with fingers on keys

Gabriel’s Oboe

I adore the sound of woodwinds. On my very best nights, I’ll hear something similar to a far off oboe, drawing me towards it as I drift off to sleep.

Gabriel’s Oboe has been performed by many musicians, on a variety instruments. Yet, it’s Henrik Chaim Goldschmidt whose playing makes my heart soar on sound.

Pause and listen through to that final high note (4 min):

To me, this version of Ennio Morricone’s Gabriel’s Oboe embodies the art, feeling, and grace of music.

Why is it that music played by a certain person opens our hearts? It can be music of any style, yet the vibration resonates deeply when that individual begins to play.

Who’s your person?

This phenomenon, perhaps explained by the physics of resonance, also occurs with the voice of someone we love. We may awaken to the fact poignantly when our loved one has been away, and we hear that unique sound once again.

“It’s just great to hear the sound of your voice,” my husband and I said recently when we were finally able to talk to a friend in the hospital.

Someone’s sound is not just words. The music of your child’s laughter may open your heart. My cat makes a certain meow, a tiny throat trill, that I find most endearing.

Whatever the music that warms and uplifts you, listen today.
Be grateful for that sound. It’s not forever.

That is living as music.

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Riding the rhythm, the Nicholas brothers best tap dancers of all times shown here in mid-air

Riding the Rhythm

Two of the greatest tap dancers who ever lived, the Nicholas Brothers, bring fresh, dynamic, awe-inspiring expression to riding musical rhythm.

As if born in synchronicity with each other and with big band music, these gifted dancers fly. Pause now to experience their surprising story, sound, and way of riding rhythm (less than 2 min):

The Brothers’ level of rhythmic genius is precise, acrobatic, and fluid. Can you hear/feel their tap shoes matching the beat of the music?

Most impressive to me is the joy with which the Nicholas Brothers dance to a song they didn’t even like! Yet, they found a way through their love of music and dance.

That’s inspiring—and gives us a key to navigate more easily.

When the soundtrack of our lives turns sour, we can sweeten the discord. The Nicholas Brothers offer an image of moving gracefully and playfully in a distasteful situation.

We may be frustrated by our current job, ending a relationship, having to relocate cross country, or facing a real health concern. Whatever the story, for the moment we’re in a tough time.

Let’s remember the Nicholas Brothers and lean into the rhythm, find something in the song we can dance to and be inspired to stay light on our feet.

Bring the best we can, given the circumstances, without self-judgment. The song won’t last forever. We, too, can be riding the rhythm, tapping lightly.

That is living as music.

P.S. Want to see the Nicholas Brothers as kids? check out their Lucky Number “audition”



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Human Sonar

When you feel you’re in the dark and can’t clearly see a path forward, use sonar to navigate. How so?

Creatures like whales, dolphins, and bats use sound frequency and echolocation to navigate towards food, away from predators, and into the free, open sea or air.

Pause now and experience the amazing song of whales and dolphins (less than 1 min.):

You can call on your intuition, gut instincts, and spiritual perceptions. These are human sound frequencies that allow us to use vibration to feel our way forward.

When your vision is blocked by fear, or you feel lost and disoriented, try not to panic. Literally vibe it out. Drop your attention into your gut, check in with your intuitive spider sense, or open your inner hearing.

For example, wondering which of two choices is best?

Your answer may come through the words of a friend’s passing comment, or a visceral letting go in your belly when you consider one option over another. Hearing and sensing are both vibrational phenomenon.

Sound frequency exploration, like human sonar, can bring guidance, wisdom, and protection.

Through sound, we can still navigate life with greater ease, even when we can’t see clearly.

That is living as music.

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Milky Way Symphony

Music is alive in the universe. Are we listening?

NASA scientists paired with musicians to turn a photograph of the Milky Way into music by matching light wavelengths to sound wavelengths.

An expert in astronomy visualization collaborated with several musicians to create this musical interpretation of a photograph from the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Pause now and experience the symphony (1 min.):

How are you changed by listening?

I believe experiencing galactic music can help us navigate more easily. As we face daily challenges by growing bigger, wider, deeper—expanding our awareness out into space—our problems shrink.

We can be awed and comforted by our galaxy’s music rather than fixating on petty annoyances or becoming overwhelmed by true suffering.

We are not alone, but live amidst an infinitely larger, more beautiful sound. Blessedly, we are a part of this stardust. Doom and gloom are not the only realities that exist.

Today, you can listen for the sound behind all sounds in daily life. Pause to hear bird songs, a firetruck siren, or your loved one’s voice as part of this universal music.

Know that the Milky Way ever sings its lullaby to humanity.
That is living as music.

P.S. More amazing NASA collaborations in music:
https://www.system-sounds.com/nasa/

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