This past week I moved into a different mode of being. It's as though I'm on an accelerated course of integrating all of my past experiences in this life; I'm no longer fragmented by all the changes I've made in friends, places that I've lived, jobs that I've held, or the many different kinds of activism that I've passionately pursued. I feel as though I've reached a zero point that shakes down everything that has formed me into a more intricate structure with more connecting points, as though my basic personality structure were a pyramid shifting into a merkaba.
All the music now being made available from my past through Youtube has been a portal for me to call in the memories. When I was living in the Bay Area and singing with the Threshold
Choir, I was singing at the bedsides of people who were dying or in coma for a couple years. So I heard about this research that they've been doing in reconnecting people with their memories through music they once loved.
This is a precious time for me since coming to China in which I have been cultivating my own company and been free to reflect on much of what has happened in my rather eventful life. So the walks through the past prompted by listening to favorite music has been enjoyable and fruitful as I weave in all that I have been with all that I am today. It is empowering and makes me realize how much I cherish what this life has brought to me.
Studying Chinese at age 54 has proven rather challenging for me. I have difficulty remembering much. So I have been researching ways to improve my memory and ability to remember. I am also experimenting. The other morning I woke up from a dream about a way to improve my memory by bringing up my chi, breathing in through my nose, then smiling and letting joy well up. This five-second prep before setting out to memorize anything is a way to bring focused attention in a fully activated state.
I shared this with a friend who is a biochemistry student yesterday as he told me that he had five exams that he needed to memorize a great deal of material for. He said that he would try my method as he set out to do all the memorizing that he needs to do for his exams. He teased me about his being a subject of my experiment.
The best part of coming to China has been the opportunity to make friends with so many bright young people... and the opportunity to interact with students whose receptivity and idealism has been so heart-warming. We have definitely been learning from each other.
