Just what I needed...

Once a month I play my guitar in the lobby at the gym where I go (acac). I often improvise or play my own pieces, sometimes I bring in music to read from too. I generally try to create energizing and restorative soundscapes that will invite those weary from the world to sit for a spell and listen. And that is just what they do.

"This is just what I needed," a woman said as she sat down next to me and closed her eyes and listened.  Another man I see every day but we've never spoken came up and tapped me on my shoulder and said, "it's beautiful!"

Some people come and bring a newspaper or magazine and sit and listen and read and relax. I love how they "get it" that the music is there to restore and energize them. Sometimes when people see me with a guitar,  I feel like they expect me to entertain them. Not that there is anything wrong with entertainment but it is a whole different feeling. To me music is like a food that can nourish any kind of craving, need or taste. It can fulfill a need for adventure (Brazilian and Latin American music), or be like sonic vitamins (Bach, Vivaldi) to calm you, or it can be that staple standard of an old folk song like Shenandoah to make you feel refreshed.

I love watching the people going by and our conversations we have when they choose to come and listen.  Their smiles and gestures of gratitude to me energizes me to keep going and fill the room with harmonious sounds. In a world filled with noises of construction workers, leaf blowers, traffic, loud car stereos.. .it is a nice thing to provide some peace through music.