A Different Drum

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." - Henry David Thoreau

Today I played in a drum circle with a group of seniors and that was great fun.  There is something especially joyful about drumming with people.  A lot of things happen in a group while playing a rhythm over a period of time. We start to get louder at times, some of us take solos, we hear the beat morphing into a different cadence and then back again. Someone becomes the leader, then quiets down and another leads the beat. All this is done without speaking. Sometimes without eye contact, it just happens organically.

I brought my Native American flute and played a solo in the circle while everyone kept a heartbeat rhythm going. I walked around and looked into everyone's eyes.  It makes people smile and it is a good feeling, this wordless exchange that says so much.

My mom used to say about me that I marched to a different drum. I didn't quite understand what that meant then  but it is true.  I am so glad of that now as it has led me to places I ever have expected. These days as a freelancer, my days are so varied that I often wake up wondering what day it is and where will be today? It is a great feeling because for many years I had a stagnate routine driving to an office each day. I could not stand the same old same old. 

Now my life is like that rhythm that rises and falls, gets faster and slower and finds a way to blend with others who march to that different drum.

The drums pictured above are those the group plays. Cute, eh?

f a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

Henry David Thoreau

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henrydavid141463.html#PdHqxGGC5sDZ4l4k.99
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If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

Henry David Thoreau

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henrydavid141463.html#PdHqxGGC5sDZ4l4k.99

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

Henry David Thoreau

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/henrydavid141463.html#PdHqxGGC5sDZ4l4k.99