Eight year old Jacob, both blind and autistic, happened upon a street musician in downtown Lawrence, Kansas.
This is the result.
As touched as I am sure that all of you are by this video, the emotions of the musician himself were perhaps even more profound.
It was an ordinary day, walking to my regular spot to busk when I don't have a gig that night, and play music on the corner for a rotating crowd. When Jacob came over I felt excited about having another kid listen to the music. (Makes my day when kids dance to the music on the street... I already had a couple come over that day so it was already nice). However, unlike most kids that come up to me with curiosity, I felt so much energy coming off of him and I was completely overwhelmed. His hand on my leg was very powerful and about brought me to tears while playing. Not because he is blind or autistic.. but because of a connection I have never felt and one that is impossible to explain. Honestly, a feeling that came from my toes all the way up my body and surrounded me. I can't begin to explain it. I want to try to put it into words, but there is no way to tell how powerful his energy felt.
I guess if there is a lesson here for all of us it is that many of us are also walking around blind, and in a world of our own creation. And every once in a while we stumble upon the opportunity to connect on a level that is both surprising and beautiful. We should never let those opportunities slip away.
Tears in my eyes. I'm such a sap.
ReplyDeleteHey, from one sap to another, I hear you! *sniff*
DeletePass the kleenex please!!
DeleteSniff - Wipe, Wipe - Sniff!!
Same here.
DeleteMy assistant just came in and asked me if my son is okay. I thought my office door was closed completely. Evidently it wasn't.
Then I made the mistake of showing her the lil music vid on my laptop here on the credenza in my office so she'd quit worrying about me and get to work. THAT was a stupid thing for me to do.
Ten minutes later there's a friggin' cryin' & huggin-a-thon going on out there and heaven only knows where my laptop has gone to.
Oh shit, she just looked in and saw me a little teary-eyed and when I made eye contact with her, she just started wailing! OMG, there's 10 damn computers out there, one on every desk in the office and they can't bring me MY laptop because they gotta show it to somebody else first then and watch it again with the next one or two. But I can't go find it until Sherri brings me back some damn kleenex to blow my nose first. And as they say, "she ain't studyin' me."
Gryph, dammit, you shot this afternoon to hell and back for everybody here, it looks like. Actually, I guess I did the most damage, but you deserve a share of the grief, too. Thanks man. I need to have Sherri check the office supply closet for kleenex. Looks like I'll be on a Costco run if I ever get out of here.
Dammit, G, put a NSFW! warning on this thing, man. I swear, the last time I saw a bunch of ladies doing this was 30 years ago when Prince Charles and Diana got married and it looked every woman within 3 counties was watching it in the conference room, boo-hooing and carrying on. lol I remember the men would go in there for about a minute to see what the hell was going on and they'd come right back out rolling their eyes and shaking their head. But this is different 'cause everybody is touched by this thing.
Powerful stuff, man. Music. Love.
This desktop is so slow, I'm not gonna be able to work on this damn thing. Signing out for the day, runny nose and all.
I hope this child's mother gets him some musical training...at least an instrument(s). Music is powerful, and this man's patience with the child and his emotional response was, too.
ReplyDeleteAs I was watching this,out of no where my allergys kicked in...just too cool.!!
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteYeah, that's right. My sniffles and tears in my comment below are allergies too.
:)
Gryphen said..I guess if there is a lesson here for all of us it is that many of us are also walking around blind, and in a world of our own creation. And every once in a while we stumble upon the opportunity to connect on a level that is both surprising and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this...I was able to experience the Super Moon with my two girls and their friend and at that moment we were all connected to the same thing and that is a beautiful thing...huh!
Yep, music, energy, love, consciousness, sub-atomic reactions. It IS a beautiful thing to experience the connectivity.
DeleteNice to hear about you & your girls' experience. Thanks for sharing.
J-
I hope Trig is exposed to music and art that inspires him to explore joy.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThat was beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gryph!
OT, but I thought I would throw up when I read this at the WSJ from the guy who is trying to get a pass on vetting Palin!!
ReplyDelete"I guess if there is a lesson here for all of us it is that many of us are also walking around blind, and in a world of our own creation"..beautiful and true Gryphen. Thank you, and so nice that you always post uplifting words after the Palin threads to counter the negative emotions that anybody with an ounce of humanity feels towards that awful clan, but their crimes and deceptions must be exposed. I read all your posts and while I don't often comment I enjoy and learn something from each one, thank you again for all you do.
ReplyDeleteNamaste.
Now you might have an inkling why I like being a professional musician and working with children, too. Tyler Gregory seems to get it.
ReplyDeleteAn equally moving video that documents the power of music at the other end of our lives is from the documentary "Alive Inside":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyZQf0p73QM
It is a documentary about the power of music to touch the elderly that seem to be the most withdrawn and distant. It features neurologist Oliver Sacks and gives a glimpse into the demonstrable clinically significant medical power of music.
My wife is a music therapist and has seen the same phenomenon with her own clients, who though robbed by dementia of the ability to normally speak or even remember their family members will become lucid and conversant during exposure to music that is significant to them and for a residual time beyond. It is magical. For a brief time, family members have their loved ones back.
I've struggled to adequately explain or understand the power of music, but I do know that it is very real. As a composer and performer I try and tap into that power, sometimes to a greater degree of success, sometimes less so. My theory is that in our evolutionary past that music was proto-speech, which is why it resides at a more basal level of our brains than speech itself. Even though few of my academic colleagues share my theory, my musical experiences with both children and the elderly have strengthened my opinion in this matter.
Being a less-than-famous full-time musician, it can be a struggle at times to make ends meet, but it does have its rewards. Those times where I know I've really touched someone emotionally are why I keep doing what I do.
Listening or producing music actually uses a different part of the brain that the speech/language does. The neurological pathways to the language processing part of the brain are probably strengthened/stimulated by the similar pathways utilized by processing music, which then triggers the memory pathways.
DeleteJust my hypothesis of what is happening.
There are up to a dozen distinct regions of the brain that are active in trained musicians when either actively listening to or making music, including speech centers.
DeleteMy wife has experienced clients who could not normally speak any longer due to dementia who could yet recall and sing the words to hymns they'd known for 80 years. Dr. Sacks has written extensively on the subject of music and the brain, but he makes no claims as to being able fully explain the effects of music. The scientific literature on the subject that I've read does not dissuade me from my theory of music as proto-speech.
The "Mozart Effect," or at least the popular understanding of that - play Mozart for your children and they will be geniuses - is bullshit, but the reality is much more exciting and amazing.
So true. So true. My husband was a classical pianist (not professional). He's has brain cancer and several strokes and dementia. The other day he came out from his nap and went into the living room and sat down at our grand piano. The last time he couldn't remember one song to play. Sunday, he played a few stanzas from some old melodies that he remembered. It is always so wonderful to see a few glimpses from the past. Even tho he can't hear it, he can feel it in his memory. He was very happy the rest of the day. It seemed to sooth the devil in his brain. I cried. I do so miss my private concertos! That little boy brought tears to my eyes. Watching his feet dance and his arms moving to the beat. What went thru his mind when he felt the vibrations from his guitar?
DeleteOur neighbor boy had autism..severe. His mother taught piano. Jerrod couldn't read a note of music, but he could sit down and play some fairly difficult pieces. So much is locked up in their minds just waiting for an outlet. It's finding the right key to let it out. Dementia locks up so many things also. Music seems to let it sneak out every now and then. The piano is always available when he gets the urge to bring his memories out.
MrsG
Now those are special parents to a special boy. These kinds of beautiful moments must be treasured.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised their not shouting to passersby that he's a joy, special and handsome and athletically gifted in that he's going to play sports when he's older. That God is on their side and that the world needs more like him and they wouldn't be surprised if YOU chose to abort him instead and whatnot.
A special needs boy, all children, are a normal part of society. Don't understand why the Palin's think their situation is so extraordinary over the rest of us.
Bristol and Grandma Grizzly would usher Trig and Tripp past the street musician in distaste, not recognizing the value of the Arts, and roll their eyes at each other and mouth "Get a job!"
This could have been my son at that age! He was a preemie, and survived -- just barely-- with CP, severe vision impairment, autism, retardation and many medical problems.
ReplyDeleteMusic is what has given his life purpose and pleasure -- he plays the keyboard with great skill, and has an awesome voice and sense of rhythm. He plays in concerts with "real" musicians.
If any of you have a child who is autistic and/or otherwise brain injured, please consider music and music lessons! It has made all the difference for us.
-- From the biological mother a disabled child (and I have the birth certificate to prove it!)
Hey, don't discount your son's musical abilities as being any less real than those of professional musicians. I have been in absolute awe of some musical savants whose innate skills dwarf my own. I've seen autistic musicians do things that I could NEVER do, even with 30+ years of professional training and experience under my belt.
DeleteI've often wondered if those extraordinary musical abilities came at the expense of "normalness" or if they are latent and potentially tapped by anyone. To a certain extent I envy the autistic musicians who can so totally inhabit a musical world and vividly experience something that I only dimly see.
Mozart and a handful of others seemed to possess such preternatural musical gifts, but not many others have. However, because of Mozart's extreme social awkwardness, some have speculated that he may have been mildly autistic as well.
How wonderful for your son, 10:02! I'll bet you are very proud.
DeleteTo everyone here...I am so glad I took the time to read the comments on this post. I had a crappy day, and you have made such inspirational observations. Thank You!
When the little boy touched the guitar, tears just started pouring out!
ReplyDeleteHe wanted to TOUCH the MUSIC!
From Mail Online
ReplyDeleteFirst look: Bristol Palin and three-year-old son in promotional photograph for new reality show Life's a Tripp
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2145092/Lifes-Tripp-Bristol-Palin-son-3-promo-photograph-new-reality-show.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Anatomy of photos?
New Chin, old chin, old chin. . .
'I wish Levi would be like, "Hey Bristol, can I have Tripp for the weekend?" she says. 'I would be so willing and glad to do that. He continues to lie.'
Life's a Tripp will air June 19 on U.S. network Lifetime.
The area of the brain that responds to music is different than that responding to speech.
ReplyDeleteWhat a joyful and tearful video -- tears of joy to see the connection the young boy has.
Bravo to the mom, to the parents that recognize these times of connections and encourage it as it's truly sad when there are parents that act as they themselves are the 'victims' and would much rather 'closet away' the child instead of encouraging them -- it being what they would consider a pain in the ass as it interrupts their life.
O/T
ReplyDeleteRachel Maddow has on her Blog a post about Romney in Miami and the campaign's refusal to take questions from the media.
The story is of another of Bain's acquiring a company in Miami and running it into the ground under debt and job loss while making massive profits and taking massive tax breaks/exemptions for job creation -- in Puerto Rico and then shutting it down within months there to. Bain's plot thickens as the facts keep exposing themselves!!
"In advance of Mitt Romney's fundraising swing through Florida [Wednesday], Democrats are highlighting one of the business ventures of Bain Capital while Romney was in charge: Dade Behring, which, saddled with debt, wound up shuttering two medical technologies facilities in Miami. Some 850 jobs were lost, while Bain walked away with $242-million -- an 800 percent return on its investment
The Dade Behring case has been well-documented, but here's a new wrinkle: The company under Bain's leadership sought and received millions of dollars in tax breaks for creating jobs in Puerto Rico - shortly before closing it's facilities, costing nearly 300 jobs.
The company in 1997 received a $3-million federal tax break aimed to promoting job creation in Puerto Rico. It also received a $4.1-million tax exemption from Puerto Rick in 1997 in the name of job creation. Dade ceased its operations in Puerto Rico in the first quarter of 1998."
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/16/11733147-mitts-miami-vice#comments
That was beautiful and such a contrast to the parenting abilities of the previous post.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful experience for all of them. It made my heart grow larger. (((Love)))
ReplyDeleteI love that it touched your heart too, Uncle G...thanks for sharing! You are a good man.
-Alicat
Music touches people in ways that can't be described with words.
ReplyDeleteLawrence, KS is SUCH a cool place.
Lawrence, KS is a COOL PLACE! A cool, beautiful, progressive place in the only blue county in Kansas.
DeleteRock Chalk!
I live in Independence, MO, and am a huge Jayhawk basketball fan! Rock Chalk! I have worked on several projects in Lawrence, and I always love to visit there. I think my nephew is considering attending college at Haskell University.
DeleteGeez, louise. I peeked at the site a few minutes ago and I just HAD to watch the video since it was short before heading into a weekly mtg for the finance & acctg teams that's scheduled for 3:00-4:15 on Wednesdays, and then we close the office 5:30. Then folks usually don't drag out of here until 5:45 or 6:00, trying to finish up and close out.
ReplyDeleteBut you know what, Wednesday afternoon is a stupid effin time for a boring-ass meeting. Instead, I'm about to leave early in a few minutes and take off for the day and go pick my son up from school before he gets on the bus. Then I think he and I will go hang out at the park that's right beside Baskin-Robbins.
Now, if these folks will just hurry their asses up and get out of here so I can walk through the lobby without having somebody think one of our family dogs got out of the backyard and got run over or something. I just sent everyone home early and we're gonna pay the hourly people until 6:00.
Life is too short. Thanks for the reminder.
I can't wait to hug my son.
Thanks for this post Gryphen. It made me smile.
ReplyDeleteYou could play Boggle with Palin's favorite words these past four years (shake it up so to speak) and come up with a refreshing spin of her jargon on any issue, any candidate, any election cycle:
ReplyDeleteOn Tuesday night, Deb Fischer, chairwoman of the Nebraska state senate, beat GOP favorite Jon Bruning to win the Nebraska Republican U.S. Senate primary. Palin endorsed Fischer while former presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum supported Bruning.
Palin said of Fischer’s win: “As recently as a week ago, Deb Fischer was dismissed by the establishment. Why? Because she is not part of the good old boys’ permanent political class. The message from the people of Nebraska is simple and powerful: America is looking for real change in Washington, and commonsense conservatives like Deb Fischer represent that change. I applaud Moms like Deb Fischer who are bold enough to step up and run on a conservative platform to restore America and protect our children’s future.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/post/deb-fischers-win-should-not-erase-the-discussion-of-the-war-on-women/2012/05/16/gIQAy3nGUU_blog.html
Sniffle (sincere sniffle, not a snarky one).
ReplyDeleteGosh, how wonderful. Sniffle (again, sincere sniffle).
Couple of tears too. Where's my tissues.
My grandaughter is coming over for her guitar lessons soon. I want her to see this too. As a musician who is going to record in a week, this is an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThanks
@ Gasman (love your posts, here, BTW!). Believe me, I don't in any way discount my son's musical talents, which is why I put quotes around the word the "real" in mentioning "real" (i.e. professional, paid) musicians. The professionals my son has played with are quite in awe of him, as well.
ReplyDeleteAlso wanted to add, that when I look at the video of Jacob, I see so many telling similarities in the way both he and my son react to music.
Notice, at one point, Jacob puts his hands over his ears. My son does this too, because music is so overwhelming to him and has such power over him that he must be on his guard when he first encounters it.
Music hits him hard and viscerally! It allows him to feel and express emotions he couldn't otherwise know or cope with -- at least not on the same level as he does through music. It is a beautiful thing to watch!
The hand flapping from the wrist (gestures common among children with autism and visual problems), the reaching out to hug and feel the instrument the way Jacob did is also familiar and so heart-wrenching to me.
--biological mom to savant child with disabilities (with a birth certificate and concert videos to prove it!)
I'd like to second Gasman's comment that the power of music is indeed very, very real. I, too, am a professional musician/composer/producer. I've been relatively successful on the business end of things - I've placed my music in about 800 tv shows and 3 feature films. But I always find the real rewards for all the hard work and time invested in nurturing ones talents, whatever they may be, is in making the kinds of connections like the one in the video above. It's a gift when you can make people dance, smile, or just pause and take a moment away from an all-too-often stressful world. I've had women tell me my playing made them cry (not COMPLETELY sure those were compliments :) I've also had a couple tell me they conceived a child to my music - quite an honor!!
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of non verbal communication like music and art is that it is direct. One can resonate with the soul of another person across the barriers of language, race, age, politics and even time. I can listen to recordings of John Coltrane or read some Bach pieces and feel emotion. It may not be precisely the emotion that Coltrane or Bach felt when they created them, as emotional perceptions tend to be somewhat subjective, but the overall feeling is there.
Gryphen, thanks for sharing this. Sometimes when I'm all wrapped up in my own day-to-day struggles I take situations like this for granted. I'm going to make sure to cherish them as much as I can.
Smir
That's funny that he mentioned the energy coming off that sweet child because as I watched, I felt it too. (And that was before I read his comments below.) Amazing, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that G!
Lawrence, KS is my HOMETOWN and home of the KU Jayhawks and is a great town! Wish I still lived there! Enjoyed this story and thanks.
ReplyDeleteRock chalk, MollyMAC!
DeleteTo borrow a phrase from my husband:" I'm not crying, my eyeballs are sweating"
ReplyDeleteOf all the inventions Steve Jobs perfected, the i pod, i phone and i pad are all being used my many within the spectrum of Austism and Asperger's syndrone. The beauty of these perfections is their complexity and intuitive interface.
But this video show's there's nothing like the real thing.
Seeing this beautiful child make a real connection through music is amazing.
Thanks For Sharing!
A teachable moment for all of us!
Yikes.
ReplyDelete(good one, Gryphen)