In Media Res: Moved to Tears By Music

Okay, lemme start with a thing that clicked in Leenie Brain just before I started writing this post (the topic has been on my mind since lunchtime), and I noticed how a few details tied together. Remember – coincidences do not exist.

After supper I was catching up on Facebook and ran across a friend’s post from a Nametests “game” – What does your name mean according to Buddhism? Most of these are rather silly and humorous because they’re so random… except when they speak to me like this one:

Eileen means Love’s Pure Light.

Eileen is beautiful inside and out and could brighten your day with her smile. She’s not afraid to feel it all. She lives, she laughs, and she cries, too. Eileen is a dreamer who is destined to achieve her goals.

I giggled over the game’s “accuracy” with “light”; I lit up from the memories of receiving compliments on my smile (thanks to Dr. Stern and 3+ years of orthodontics); I nodded in agreement about living, laughing, and crying, especially considering the intended topic of this post; and I smiled at the idea of my destiny. However, I may have activated that little wrinkle between my eyebrows while trying to remember what song lyrics include, “love’s pure light”.

Maybe it came to you more quickly than it did to me, but it’s in a verse of Silent Night: “Silent night, holy night, son of God, love’s pure light”. Now, I ain’t the son of God, but my goal to be a light in this world comes from a place of love. And yes, Silent Night is one of those songs that makes me cry.

Ta da!!! 😉

So yeah, this was not intended to be an In Media Res post, but it happens. lol

ANYWAY, today we were headed to lunch, and Sibelius’ Finlandia started playing on the radio. I forget how many times I played it during my high school years, but even then, I was so moved by this composition and in awe of how a composer could string together notes for a melody, decide what key and chords, pick which instruments would be best for putting it all together… One may be able to study theory and all the other shit that I wasn’t passionate about (therefore I didn’t follow my brothers’ footsteps in getting my degree in music), but composing music that moves the masses takes the innate talent of being able to translate your heart into an actual song.

When we arrived at a traffic light of a major intersection on the parkway, my eyes began to sting (6:09), and I fought it because 1. driving and crying is hazardous, and 2. I didn’t want Chief Daddy to ask me why I was crying. The same theme resumes and again, I try to pretend I’m a stoic because as the piece approaches the end, it always conjures feelings of… ugh… typing and crying is as bad as trying to drive! Let’s just say that the waterworks from Finlandia may be worse now than when I was a teen because the music not only moves me to tears but also carries me back to high school orchestra and all the totally awesome opportunities I had through music classes in public school.

…and those are stories for another night.

Luceat lux vestra.