song: “Natalie” by XVSK (Trevor Exter & John Morgan Kimock)
press play above or listen here.
When I play one note, it’s a simple action with some part of my body that generates sound, and I'm instantly delighted.
To play one note is delight. Do I need the world, an audience, to hear it?
No.
Obviously the presence of an audience amplifies and multiplies the delight, but the delight in its purest form already exists independently.
Practice is the cultivation of these small delightful actions in quantity and order: creating and inhabiting patterns of delight.
We smooth out our movements: a sour note here, a lopsided rhythm there... we feed our attention and love into the ongoing action and the rest takes care of itself.
We must remember to breathe. And not to judge, only shape.
(Shaping it allows for more delight, judging cuts it off at the neck.)
Connect to the delight, and protect that connection with your life. God speaks through our bodies and the audience shows up to witness.
Sometimes you’ll break a string.
See you again next Wednesday.
Love,
Trevor
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If you appreciate my work, it’s in these other places too. Help it spread by sharing it:
Listen to the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify
Hear 18 episodes of: "Play It Like It's Music"
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the cultivation of small delightful actions