01 Jul Stayin’ Alive
1988: On the night before my new job was to start I decided to clean up my art studio and clear out some old vibrations. It was a nice, clear night in Miami Beach and I was upstairs. During a quiet moment uninterrupted by my two young daughters, I realized I could hear music. It was terrific bluegrass fiddle and it sounded live. In fact it sounded like it was coming from the apartment house behind me. They played one hit after another – tight vocal harmonies and tasty guitar playing wafted in. Good Vibrations.
Suddenly I had to hear where it was coming from. I put on my flip flops and tip toed out of the house and into the night. Now I was part of the night. In the darkness I could imagine not having a body, an invisible part of the big dark outdoors. I was anxious to hear this music closer and anxious about the way I had left the door open and my kids upstairs. But this won’t take long. Stayin’ Alive.
As I walked, I noticed how life on the common sidewalk is so different, so public, but connected to our very personal, private home worlds, where walls and roofs divide up the space psychologically as well as physically. Maybe this urge is some sort of metaphor for some needed unfoldment. As I got closer to the street behind us, I realized that this music was coming from very far away, maybe across the creek, maybe from the Fountainbleau Hotel or another beach resort. It really sounded good but as I got closer to the sound it seemed to almost totally fade. When I got about 2 streets away I knew for sure the music was coming from the beach. Mac the Knife.
By now they’d gone through about 6 styles of music. I turned on my heels and headed back. I could feel my metaphor coming closer as I walked away from the music which got louder and clearer. My metaphors usually have to do with my life’s path. I worried how easily I was drawn to the music like a someone who could suddenly drop everything for a vision that becomes illusive, harder to grasp, and much farther away than expected. As I turned my attention to my present state, me walking home and my life there and then, the music was perfectly clear. Beatles Medley. Back in my studio, the acoustics were the best.
