December 14 is Monkey Day

While looking up a different topic I was planning to write about, I came across a heading that December 14th is Monkey Day. Distracted from the other topic, which I will save for another day, I decided to find a video about monkeys writing. Which led to this idea and that idea and then I remembered the snow monkeys in one of the movies by Godfrey Reggio with music by Philip Glass.

If you've followed my blog for very long, you will know that I am a big fan of Philip Glass. 

I started looking for the snow monkeys and couldn't remember which movie they were in. But it didn't matter. I found the video below, with meditative music, and snow monkeys in a hot spring in Japan.

It would have been clever to find monkeys writing, but I didn't find any videos I liked. And I do like this video. It is calming. Today I needed calming. So I thought I'd share the snow monkeys on monkey day.

*

Challenge : F is for Float

F is for Float.

It could be a root beer float. Yum! I haven't had one of those in a long time; years. Right now I'm tasting that creamy texture of the vanilla ice cream - make it a really good one, natural, old fashioned, plain vanilla - covered with a real home-brewed type root beer poured over the top. So that the ball of vanilla is covered with a crunchy root beer ice coating, which crunches as you sip and chew. Smooth.

But I'm not writing about that today.

Or it could be a parade Float. Living in the City of Roses, that would be natural. We have the annual Rose Festival and the accompanying parade, which includes the Rose Princesses and the Rose Queen. And the Royal Rosarians. I haven't kept up with the newest technology in Float building, but it used to be that they used actual flower petals - many of them roses, of course - which where applied to the body of the Float to make the creatures and vehicles and the structures upon which the people and animals and various attachments sat as they flowed through the streets of downtown Portland, Oregon, blocking traffic for hours and making it difficult to get from here to there or anywhere.

But I'm not writing about that today, either.

What I am writing about is to take a Float. As in, Float in a saltwater tank for a period of time, with the door closed, the lights all off and access to light blocked, and no sounds. To Float in darkness for ninety minutes. Let the salt heavy water support your body in its natural position, in the dark and the silence and just be present. To slip into a state where ninety minutes feels like thirty and eventually your mind does quiet and you are ... just ... there. Floating. Supported. Relaxed to the state where creativity lives and flows and you now have access.

The first Float I did was about a month ago. I'd heard about them and they sounded wonderful. And kind of scary. I couldn't really imagine me doing anything like being still for ninety minutes. And the first appointment I scheduled was actually two and a half hours, because of the time slot, which was because of my busy and pretty full schedule. But I thought I'd give it a try.

There was the option of getting out at any time, they said.

But I didn't. I stayed in the entire two and a half hours. And had no idea it had been that long.

Two nights ago I went for my second Float. It was only a ninety minute appointment. And - yes - it really did feel like about thirty minutes.

So when someone asked me yesterday if my "E" word story was about an elephant eating a berry which turned out to be a drug, and I responded that I didn't think so, but maybe. And then I said that I didn't know where the story came from and, no, I wasn't on any mind altering substance, either, when I wrote it. I wasn't.  But it was post-Float. And Floating is said to aid in creativity. The place where I'm going did a project where musicians Floated and then created music; they have a CD of their collected compositions. They also did a Float project with artists. Right now they have a Float project going on with chefs - I can't wait to see how that one turns out.

I'm thinking of talking to them about my idea for a writers and Float project. Really. It's that good.

So. F is for Floating in ten inches of water which has 800-900 pounds of Epsom salts, in the dark and the silence. Ahhhhhh.

Buddha Machine Wall

I've been searching out more information about the Buddha Machine and have discovered a couple of things to note. One, it is based on an older device, called various names such as "Taiwanese digital jukebox" or "digital Buddhist jukebox" and variations on those. Those devices are still available, as well, and come in a variety of sizes. "Size" being relative to their physical measurements but also relative to the number of songs; I found quite a few models with three to twelve songs, and then there were some with up to 69 songs.

I also found the FM3 Buddha Machine Wall. So, while the Buddha Machine app won't install on a desktop and not everyone in the world owns an i-Device, there are options.

I had fun playing with the Wall. You can mix and match sounds, adding and deleting them. I like it. My partner, who was sitting nearby working on her computer, wasn't as thrilled with my find. We like many of the same things - including music - but this was not one of them. But I find it soothing and inspiring. Next time I'm doing some heavy editing, I think I'll whip up a special combination and let it help me keep focused on the task on the keyboard. I mean, sometimes I like editing and sometimes I'm easily distracted; this will help with the distracted times.

Try it.

(This is a photo of the Buddha Machine Wall. But I've hooked it up as a link to the actual Wall, so go ahead, click on the picture.)

quote

(Very odd - the quote disappeared in the posting process. Take two with fingers crossed!)

"Learn how to meditate on paper. Drawing and writing are forms of meditation. Learn how to contemplate works of art. Learn how to pray in the streets or in the country. Know how to meditate not only when you have a book in your hand but when you are waiting for a bus or riding in a train." ~ Thomas Merton

Thank you, Jessica Page Morrell for the quote at The Writing Life Too.
.