“Dancers” | Anthony Satori
“Our feet are planted in the real world, but we dance with angels and ghosts.”
– John Cameron Mitchell
Angels and Ghosts
music
Peak Experiences
“Laughter” | Anthony Satori
I think one of the keys to a happy life is to cultivate the ability to find joy, meaning, and fulfillment in everything that we do, even the most mundane and simple of life’s experiences. It’s a matter of showing up for life, being here in the present moment, and paying attention.
For example. if you can sit down and play even a simple song on a musical instrument, or if you can sing along with a song in your car, or if you love to dance to a rhythm or flow – feel the magic of that, every time you do it. Music never gets less miraculous, we simply become jaded to its magic, and that does not have to happen. If we pay attention, we can choose to never lose the awe and pleasure that music can inspire.
In the same way, when you eat a good meal, even the most simple of meals, taste it, savor it, appreciate it. Food never has to be boring or rote, we simply tune out the pleasure that can occur at every meal, and that pleasure can be rediscovered if we simply choose it. Slow down, taste your food, be grateful for the nourishment and for the sensory experience of it.
And this, of course, applies to so many other things – sunshine, fresh air, clouds in the sky, the song of a bird, the company of a good friend or a loved one, the pleasure of reading a good book or watching a good movie – all of these things hold magic in them. They all have the potential to provide peak experiences, if we know how to slow down, pay attention, and approach them with appreciation and gratitude. It is simply a matter of consciously choosing this path, every day, and then making the most of every moment.
Shine Your Light in this World
“Flamenco Dancer (Ibiza, Spain”) | Anthony Satori
Somewhere along the line, someone probably told him, “You can’t be a flamenco dancer.” But instead of listening to them, he picked up a tasseled cloth, put on some fancy shoes, and started to put in the countless hours of practice that it takes to get really good at anything. And now, up and down the coast of Ibiza, Juan gets paid to set up a 4 ft. by 6 ft. wooden stage and dance his heart out in front of applauding audiences. His mother sings behind him, and his brother plays the guitar. And I say, more power to him. More power to them all. Life is short. Do something good, do something beautiful, do something difficult. Most importantly, do something that brings you joy, and something that brings joy to others. Shine your light in this world.
Aloft in the Wind
“Aloft in the Wind” | Anthony Satori
“Just as musicians feel about scores and melodies, and how dancers feel about steps and the flow of music, so are pilots one with the principal of flight, the magic of being aloft in the wind.”
– Richard Bach
Just Wail
“Just Wail” | Anthony Satori
“You’ve got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.”
– Charlie Parker
Watch the River Flow
“Hummingbird at a Flower” | Anthony Satori
“I’m really quite simple. I plant flowers and watch them grow. I stay at home and watch the river flow.”
– George Harrison
Dreams All Made Real
“Columns” | Anthony Satori
“Looking down on empty streets, all she can see, are the dreams all made solid, are the dreams all made real. All of the buildings, all of the cars, were all just a dream in somebody’s head.”
– Peter Gabriel
Life is a Song
“Love” | Anthony Satori
“Life is a song – sing it. Life is a game – play it. Life is a challenge – meet it. Life is a dream – realize it. Life is a sacrifice – offer it. Life is love – enjoy it.”
– Sai Baba
Gratitude
“Gratitude” –|– Anthony Satori
“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.”
– Lionel Hampton
The Mystical Nature of Music
“Golden Conch Shell” –|– Anthony Satori
“Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Some people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music playing very loudly on the radio.”
— Hunter S. Thompson
The music of the conch shell, for many cultures, has for millennia been the means for calling together the community for celebration, ritual, or a collective endeavor of some kind. For other cultures, it has represented a musical entreaty to communicate with the supernatural world. And for other cultures still, the conch produces nothing less than the sound from which the very universe was created.
