Listening For Peace

waves of sympathy

please note: this is a revised second version of the post. All links have been repaired.

The Video

I have just completed a music video titled Salish Sea Sunset, which I hope a viewer/listener might find, through the simple act of viewing, a tool that dissolves distraction and concentrates peace in the mind and body.

The video is set at Fossil Bay, overlooking the Salish Sea off the west coast of Canada. It shows the gradual replacement of daytime light with a glowing red sunset. Occasionally, a distant piano is heard, mixed with the sound of waves breaking on the shore.

Sympathy Raising

There are perhaps tens of thousands of such videos on YouTube, so why add to the overabundance? In a word, “sympathy”.

It is a safe assumption that, since you are here reading this, you have sympathy for the content and a willingness to engage. Salish Sea Sunset is my grateful response.

Life could be thought of as a flow in which newness is first judged with cautious curiosity, and if that leads to a willingness to experience, sympathy creates a space for unrushed thoughtfulness. Looked at this way, it might be said that this is an inner road to happiness. Perhaps even the purpose of life might be discovered through the development of sympathy.

A Story

A much younger version of myself once visited the Kootenay Lakes region in southeastern British Columbia. While hiking with others, we came upon an old gentleman whose appearance strongly suggested someone living a life in the backwoods. Through our chatty conversation, we learned that he was very proud of his lifestyle and, in particular, that he never made use of “modern things”. Someone in the group who was acquainted with him pointed out that he wore dentures and, therefore, could not really say he was free of modern ways and things. To me, that seemed unkind, and the unkindness was confirmed when we came back along the same trail, where we met the woodsman again. It was clear that he was no longer using his dentures, and in fact, he said he had thrown them away because he had never thought about the dentures being modern.

This incident has stayed with me all my life. If there had been respect, but especially sympathy for the woodsman, he might have gone on quite comfortably with his life and his philosophy in his own way.

I hope you find peace while listening to the improvised piano and the waves, while watching the sunlight fade in the Salish Sea Sunset.

Here’s the link to the YouTube video:

Salish Sea Sunset Video

Many thanks, dear friends!