whispering hush

Sometimes life is life. I’m walking down the street; my foot hurts; I’m carrying too many grocery bags with uneven weight between left and right; a car passes too quickly in front of me and honks; someone behind me, talking on the phone and spitting obscenities into the air …then there are times that it all feels a little too close to being a dream. The air is so crisp and the sky so blue in the morning; the buildings around me are grandiose and impossibly majestic; I pass someone with a smile like stars.

Last night was one of those dreams. I rode down on the train from London to Cardiff to record Eric’s (Whitacre) new piece ‘Good Night Moon’ with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, for his next ablum…There is something about journeying in trains (for me) that seems to transport (pun intended?) into the realm of magic realism. As if the movement along the earth somehow is revealing tears in the fabric of perceived time and reality. Then this music. That is so heart-achingly sweet and like good music puts a layer of meaning into words that I never felt on their own. And finally the gift of strings (and some superb engineers) leaves me with a feeling that I’d like to stay asleep for a while longer…

5 Comments

Maria Petrova on September 22, 2011 at 2:41 am Reply

Beautiful.
I think you are a dream.

You know sometimes before bed I look online for something visually and emotionally rich and satisfying, something gorgeous and moving to end the day on and take me into the night. Here it is. Here you are. Thank you for sharing of yourself, I know how anonymous and endless the indeed-world-wide web is. You have reached out and here you are, angelic, wise, sassy, and ever so real. I can’t wait to hear Goodnight Moon. Thank you for being my lullaby tonight, Hila.
- Mary-Ellin on September 26, 2011 at 1:27 pm Reply
  
  Dear Maria,
  
  Beautiful comment – I very much agree.
  
  “…sometimes before bed I look online for something visually and emotionally rich and satisfying, something gorgeous and moving to end the day on and take me into the night.”
  
  What a lovely practice that is! I may borrow that. Sometimes the day is so noisy or chaotic, it’s nice to shift into a more peaceful mode before sleeping.
Maria Petrova on September 22, 2011 at 2:50 am Reply

How beautiful.
I think you are a dream.

You know sometimes before bed I look online for something visually and emotionally rich, something lush and satisfying to end the day on and take me into the night. Here it is. Here you are. Angelic, wise, sassy, and ever so real. Thank you for sharing of yourself. I know how anonymous and endless the indeed-world-wide web is. I can’t wait to hear Goodnight Moon. Thank you for being my lullaby tonight, Hila. I love your new site.
Kevin Callahan on September 22, 2011 at 3:50 pm Reply

I *love* this post, the description of that shift; as a good friend says “sometimes the magic works and sometimes, it don’t”

I’ve been playing with the idea of movement altering perception for a few months now. I’ve been noticing that while mountain biking that everything shifts, like the combination of falling through gravity on the bike at speed allows me to peek around a curtain of perception into some other place. Similar thing happens with singing, though that’s a whole other story :)
Courtney Lea on September 26, 2011 at 9:47 pm Reply

The way you described this feeling of utter tranquility and peace (which was put very well and beautifully by the way) makes me wish I had the pleasure of experiencing this dream of yours.