Don't Resist the Music

Music's power during this time.

Jun 13, 2025

Winding Down

I’m closing in on my three month time here in US. I’ve packed in so much spending time with Harrison, taking a Spanish class, (mucho tarea), teaching at Foothill and offering breathwork at Coastside yoga, online & even a mini-retreat filled with my favorite people.

Soon, Michael and Lazlo will arrive and the reunion and whirlwind including graduation, goodbyes and last minute business begins. Like many of you, I have taken a step away from social media to put my attention on more immediate concerns and joys.

Daily Living Amidst Chaos

Each day we are collectively reminded of both our helplessness and power. I can do little about my students who are suffering. One student had to suddenly self-deport with a parent who has been here working for years. Another whose uncle and cousin were kidnapped without due process while driving to work and school—put into a detention center. We all then must do our living, the mundane parts, like sending emails, paying bills, commuting, completing my Spanish homework, attending meetings that seem divorced from the realities of our hearts.

Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for so much: Michael caring for Lazlo solo in Costa Rica, time to finish my tattoo, a recent trip to New York City, where I attended NCORE, the National Conference on Race and Equity, spent several hours touring MOMA, and walking through Central Park with Amanda, my friend from New England College days.

But the stress of this dissonance keeps kicking in, and I recently I could feel it in my body in the form of tension, racing thoughts, and fighting a cold or bug. I listened and put my practices into high gear. Took a sick day. Slept as much as I needed, lots of broth, wrote, meditated, and practiced breathwork—all of which helped.

Music as Healer

Then, I had the opportunity to attend a music festival in Sonoma to spend time with my favorite dearheart girlfriends and celebrate my sisterfriend Zina’s birthday. It felt decadent to just relax, listen to live music and feel or muster joy. What happened next surprised me. As the final two bands Gone Gone Beyond with Cat Factor and Rising Appalachia performed, I was moved by their talent, raw energy, and passion for sharing their music as a moment, a gift of healing more than just themselves, and a call to action. To dance, cry, sing with a group of like-minded folks was exactly what I needed. That collective release. Here are my favorite tracks —one from each band—that I thought you all might enjoy.

“Listening to music is not just auditory and emotional, it is motoric as well: ‘We listen to music with our muscles,’ as Nietzsche wrote. We keep time to music, involuntarily, even if we are not consciously attending to it, and our faces and postures mirror the “narrative” of the melody, and the thoughts and feelings it provokes.”
― Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia

Then, I am reminded that fascist countries try to control the personal, even gatherings and dance. I recently revisited the film Before Night Falls, about the life and exile of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas. The government knew the power of gathering, celebrating and even dancing together—outlawing groups of three or more at any private gathering.

So, I was delighted to see DANCING and music as a response to the recent illegal use of National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles. It’s cathartic to see that creative, revolutionary non-violent response.