A bit of a strange Phenomenon

[m1469]

I am just being reminded these days of a phenomenon that seems to happen during the course of studying music (and probably other subjects too) and which I first became aware of during my first year of study with one of my teachers.  This time was by far the most in-depth I had ever studied music at all.

I came to notice that a heightened awareness to shapes, forms, angles, textures and these things in general, was coming to my attention.  I would walk around looking at everything through totally new eyes and everything around me took on a whole new meaning.  I felt like music was everywhere around me.  I felt very inspired about music.  I still get these notions, but I have been thinking about this awareness lately.  Here are my thoughts on this :

Everything is connected both internally and externally.  As my studies in music were suddenly taking on a whole deeper meaning, my awareness in general perception was also being altered, and sharpened as it turns out.  Music works primarily with the ear, and suddenly I was studying shapes and textures and all of the aspects involved with music in ways that I never had before -- or at least not for a really long time.  I was becoming conscious of them in ways I had not been before.

Although with music, one is dealing very much with the auditory nerve, it is still just perception.  And the perception of shapes and textures... etc. in any single way, will effect one's perception in general.  Possibly even sharpening the other forms of perception, like visual perception. 

I think this is all happening all the time, it is just that people become more aware of different aspects of it at different times.  Also, a seemingly extreme sense of it seems to be connected to inspiration -- or what I think of as some kind of shift in mentality.  Often a flood of thoughts and ideas, questions.. and so on. 

Does that make sense ?  Also, have any of you people experienced anything like this (that you are aware of) ?


m1469 

[rc]

Interesting... I wonder, could this be called a 'love of life'?

[berrt]

Any activity in life will influence every other activity or perception... but i guess you meant something else?

B.

[m1469]

Interesting... I wonder, could this be called a 'love of life'?

he he... possibly 

Any activity in life will influence every other activity or perception... but i guess you meant something else?

B.

Well, sure.  But, I am talking about a somewhat specific kind of experience.  Which I think is most likely completely impossible to explain.


*randomly runs away... pretending to be in a race*


m1469 

[g_s_223]

Two composers whose works I know well, Brahms and Elgar, both said "music was in the air" and all they had to do was relex and let it enter them. They then had to capture it in notation and structure it into orthodox forms and clothe it in orchestral colours. However, the essential point is, from their point of view, it was just there for the taking, provided they were tuned in to receive it.

[ted]

The one who made a really big thing of this general idea was Aldous Huxley. He thought our minds were "reducing valves", constructed to shut out the overwhelming eternal reality of "mind at large" or the "clear light of the void" in order that we may cope with the reality of life in the world. Elgar used to talk about "the other place" and I dare say other people have had different names for it.

Have you read any Huxley, m1469 ? You would probably find a lot in it that strikes a very familiar chord. Try "Island", "The Doors of Perception", "Heaven and Hell" and "The Perennial Philosophy". He had much to say about heightened awareness in relation to art and music. He has gone out of fashion now, largely I think because his writing depends on a heft of background and contemplative intellectual overtone inaccessible to many in today's frenetic society. Nevertheless, he remains one of the most interesting mystical thinkers of the twentieth century.

[m1469]

The one who made a really big thing of this general idea was Aldous Huxley. He thought our minds were "reducing valves", constructed to shut out the overwhelming eternal reality of "mind at large" or the "clear light of the void" in order that we may cope with the reality of life in the world. Elgar used to talk about "the other place" and I dare say other people have had different names for it.

Have you read any Huxley, m1469 ? You would probably find a lot in it that strikes a very familiar chord. Try "Island", "The Doors of Perception", "Heaven and Hell" and "The Perennial Philosophy". He had much to say about heightened awareness in relation to art and music. He has gone out of fashion now, largely I think because his writing depends on a heft of background and contemplative intellectual overtone inaccessible to many in today's frenetic society. Nevertheless, he remains one of the most interesting mystical thinkers of the twentieth century.

Haven't read any.  But perhaps I will.  Thanks for the suggestion, Ted 

[rimv2]

Learning music intensely forces the mind to concentrate harders a few specific details. This cause your mind to analyse the hell out of what it sees in everyday life. The mentality involved leaves the mind in certain state, much as watching television for hours at a time.

Mah thoughts.