March 25, 1942 - August 16, 2018
I spent the past two days listening to Aretha Franklin's music while watching tributes to her amazing talent and social influences. One of the things she believed was "Have fun whatever you do" - truly my motto even when life gets tough. It's an easy rule to live by when you don't suffer from emotional problems particularly depression, anxiety, and all that goes with it. Music heals, its essence easy to capture in today's world with so many ways to listen.
Aretha's life may not have been easy but she was lucky to be programmed to revolutionize the face of the music industry in each decade of her life. As she was my age, and came on the scene so young, along with neighbors and classmates like Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka, Carol King, and Barbra Streisand, I grew up in the pulse of things.
Back in the day friends and I often pretended to be part of a group singing and mimicking motions of the famous groups of that time. I guess each generation does the same thing.
I just remembered teaching high school students back in the 1980's some of whom taught me how to rap - fun times with fellow teachers at Christmas and other parties.
My daughters grew up surrounded in theater and music and still laugh about the old days of disco.
I actually thought my trip down memory lane would feel more nostalgic but it didn't. Instead it had a very interesting affect on me. Last night I dreamed that I was back in the house where I lived as a teen in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn and all the fun I had with friends.
I was watching us as if a movie from the 1950's and 60's. I saw myself as an observer and knew it was just a lucid dream in another part of the consciousness grids. The past, present, and future coexist so you can go anywhere any time and experience live and in living color.
Some people believe that at the beginning of time and illusion there was a Soul Note from which everything emanated/evolved - sort of the musical accompaniment to the Big Bang and actually connects everything in all grids and time streams.
From Kepler's Harmony of the Spheres to the Theory of Everything ... life begins and ends with Harmonics.
Do you ever wonder why we like certain types of music and not others? It all goes to the algorithm of reality and our programming. I've always enjoyed all types music and still do. Through the years I've come to appreciate classical music and opera but I think that generally comes with age.
My favorite music still takes me back to good old rock 'n' roll and the Aretha Franklin years. Aretha's music had the rare gift of transformation. I'm glad to have been part of her experience from the beginning till the end.
Did she possess the "Soul Note" should it actually exist? If you listen hard enough you might actually hear her singing through the ether.
