With treatment underway, the new waiting game is checkpoint test results. While waiting, my busy little mind searches for ways to improve this situation: perhaps add a component that will contribute to a positive outcome. So far, the search has been for substances to put into my body to improve the physical condition, and into my mind to improve the mental state in which the physical operates.
For straight to-the-heart sustenance, however, music has fed my soul in a deep and complete way leaving me more whole than other artistic media. As I reflect on inspiring music, Schumann’s Symphony #4 in D Minor springs to mind. Right from the start, it is triumphant! I favor the version by Paul Paray conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for its vibrant intensity and architectural robustness, qualities that add a supportive dimension to my healing effort.
This choice represents a special legacy for me. Long ago, my sister bought it for her record collection and left me the original LP when she moved out as my roommate and married. A few years later she died, and the record became mine. I played that LP until the ridges and valleys in each groove wore down to a white hiss. Then I bought a tape cassette and played that to a howling whine. Now this music is on a CD, ready to serve as anthem for this journey, almost as if sent ahead by my sister’s spirit to help me through this time.
As the angst of waiting builds, I’ll keep cool with Schumann. So pass the ipod, and play on, Paray!
Copyright 2007
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