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Joyous and raucous, uplifting and solemn – the music of Christmas is wrapped up in a wondrous range of tension and friction.
Vocal cords vibrate giving voice.
Strings stretch offering sustained sound.
Flutes force air into flowing melodies.
Without the interplay of tension and friction, music would not be.
The voice would not sing, the guitar would be silent, the flute would not sound.
Impulse may persuade us to move away from tension and friction, but to do so would render our world mute.
There'd be no gentle stirrings of Silent Night and boisterous fun of Jingle Bells. No vintage sounds of Nat King Cole or seasonal offerings of Snoop Dogg.
There'd be no Christmas music – possibly the most warped, molded, reinterpreted and reimagined music we know of. Where history, taste and nostalgia all come together in a mash up of tension and friction.
From the shrill bombast of current hits to the quiet solace of Advent carols, our chosen attitude toward tension and friction determines if we hear noise or harmony.
American avant-garde composer John Cage reflects, "If you think of sound as noise, your body tries to resist it. But if you think of it as music, your body accepts it."
Our ongoing response toward tension and friction determines if we hear noise or harmony.
In music as in life, there is no escaping tension and friction.
So lean into the cacophony. Let the soundscape of each day shake our cells and rattle our bones and shape us into the vibrations of living fully awake to life.
The world is singing to you!
Pick up the good vibrations and sing along.
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