THE LOUNGE

Welcome to this virtual space were I will share music, poems and ideas on themes. Each theme will form the basis of a work-in-progress project. As it evolves, I will add, subtract, rearrange and generally curate the material that I share here. The idea is to provide context for the music, and to disclose something of my creative process. Because I think creating is a process, an unfolding, not an outcome.

At some point, however, I will draw a line under the project and release the music as an album onto music paltforms. Then I'll start another project with a new theme.

Less competition. More co-operation.

This first project of Musometry is all about letting go of the need to feel superior, or conversely, to know our place. It explores the idea that each of us brings something unique, and that our individual uniqueness is precisely what the world needs. We are also all human, and alike in so many ways. Celebrating both our common ground and our difference might seem like paradox, yet really it is the natural order—just balance.

There's something deeply affirmative in allowing ourselves and each other the expression of what's inside our hearts so that we can respond and see each other. The dance of life can become rich, full of energy and love. We begin to find the ground of community, space, gentleness and joy.

Quest

This piece is a celebration of community and care. I'm not naturally gregarious—as a child I was shy. But there's something about music that causes me to feel connected to others. Maybe it's because the music is honest. Unlike verbal language—the language of concepts, musical languge—the language of feelings can't lie. There's common ground not always in the language itself but in the feelings that it describes and works through.

We can use words to disgaree on politics, religion or philosophy. We might judge and blame and separate each other into to good and bad. We might argue eloquently to prove ourselves worthy of some kind of admiration, to excel, or at least to be blameless. But music brings us back to the life force that powers it all, that makes us want to live and play and dance.

What is the outcome, the return on my investment
Of energy, of effort, of love?
Will it lift me up?
How high?

Maybe I should gloss over my messy self
Hush my noisy insecurity
And let them place me on a higher shelf
Where I may become visible and untouched
Admired because they can’t see what’s really inside

No, I’d rather stay down here
In the thick of it
In the hustle and bustle of everything happening
Not held aloft on some pedestal of loneliness
Not elevated above the clouds of human suffering

No matter how high I go
The darkness still comes
And it’s too cold to bear alone
And I’d rather be down here
With all of us when it comes
Warmed by the fire of the music
That we gather round