In search of lost time
Documenting a family treasure
Howdy! If you’re new around here, welcome to Traipsing About, my newsletter about reclaiming creativity and ditching tired personal paradigms. No hallucinating AI bots here—credit is mine for all bad puns, drawings, photos, and typos.
Thanks for all the messages after my last post! I’m recovering well and getting out for long walk as the leaves fall and winter knocks on the door.
My mom recently visited for a week and we had a splendid time doing art, talking music, cooking and playing board games. I love how my hobbies have shifted so much that now I have a ton in common with her! (She was never into hanging off cliffs or jumping bikes.)
This week on Composing About, Edition #139:
Discovering a family story
Reframing wealth
Traipsing Tidbits.
In case you missed it: Last time I wrote about a big fat life curveball that’s got me on cardiac rest for months.
In search of lost time
Back in 1970 when my mom was 18, she composed the first section of the only piece of piano music she’s ever written.
Perhaps inspired by copious amounts of listening to Debussy and Satie, the music just poured from her fingers one day when she sat down at her piano.
At the time, she was in college in Madison, WI and in love with Robert, her first serious boyfriend. The piece starts off sweetly, brightly, a happy time in her life. The happiness shines from the first notes.
She’d taken piano lessons when she was younger, but never studied composition. She never wrote down the music, but it lodged in her hands and head.
My mom graduated from college a couple of years after she wrote the first section. She and Robert planned to head to Santa Fe together and get married, but first he needed to work in construction for a bit to earn money for the move.
My mom headed south ahead of him to get situated in Santa Fe and start job hunting. A month, two months passed, but Robert didn’t show up. She wrote him letters, no response. Had he changed his mind, broken up with her?
Finally, a letter arrived. But not from Robert—from his mother.
He’d died in a construction accident.
Devastated, her world spun around and plans shattered, soon afterwards my mom wrote the second part of her composition. It’s a faster, darker section, an outpouring of grief after a sudden key change.
Years passed. My mom got a teacher’s certification, moved to Idaho, lived in a tipi and taught art.
Then she went to a national ceramics convention and met a bearded artist from California. A romance followed and they got married and moved to a defunct commune outside Chico.
Little Dakota popped out into the world not long after.
Around this time, she composed the third section of music for her piece. It’s sweet, my mom in love again. The innocence and freshness of it is apparent. Cheery, fast and impetuous, full of expectations.
Who knows, maybe it flowed from her fingers while she was pregnant with me? She can’t remember the exact timeline.
Regardless, I recall her playing it occasionally when I was younger. After years away from the piano, she could perform it beautifully at any moment.
When I started learning piano, I wanted to learn the piece, but there wasn’t sheet music… Until this past week, that is!
On a rainy afternoon during her recent visit, we worked through the chords together and I explained the harmonies and sudden key changes that she’d chosen. She’d never learned music theory and didn’t know which chords she’d picked or why—all the music came straight from The Muse.
The only things missing were a final chord or two, so we played around with options before landing on something she liked. After some work, I fully transcribed the piece to sheet music—a first for me.
And so I’d like to present In Search of Lost Time by my mom. If you’re a pianist, you can download a PDF of the sheet music via Dropbox and play it! (Please forgive any newbie sheet music notation mistakes).
Here’s a recording of my mom playing her piece, 54 years after the initial idea bubbled up from her consciousness.
Wealth = Have ÷ Want
I love this reframe of wealth by Derek Sivers:
Wealth, feeling like you have plenty, is an equation.
If you have nothing, then focus on having some.
Once you have some, the easiest way to increase your wealth is to decrease your needs.
Have 10 but want 100? You are poor.
Have 10 but only want 5? You are wealthy.
Have 10 but are happy with 1? You are very wealthy.
Making money depends on other people, so it’s harder. It’s not entirely under your control. It’s an outer game.
Reducing what you “need” to be happy is easier. It’s entirely under your control. It’s an inner game.
I used to look for ways to make money, but I haven’t done that in years. Now I keep looking for ways to want less.
Traipsing About Tidbits
Note: none of these links are ever affiliate links, just stuff I use, enjoy or admire.
I don’t know how.the.hell Danny Macaskill keeps doing amazing, creative tricks on his bike, but it sure is fun to watch.
Tony prep school Eton is not allowing smart phones for the students this year: Rising numbers of people feel that they and their children are strapped to a rollercoaster future steered by intelligent machines. They’re looking for a way to take back some measure of control.
If you’re stressed out and eyeing $1 Italian villas post-election, maybe read this post written by long-time nomads first: Looking to Leave America After the Election? Consider Nomading Over Emigration.
This hilarious guy talking about his ski setup is every outdoors bro you’ve ever wanted to run away from.
Here’s a quote to ponder
I’ve found solace and breathing-space in a question from Eckhart Tolle: “Do you have a problem now?”
“Narrow your life down to this moment,” Tolle writes. “Your life situation may be full of problems – most life situations are – but find out if you have any problem at this moment. Not tomorrow or in ten minutes, but now.”
Via this short, brilliant essay from The Imperfectionist.
That’s it for Traipsing About newsletter #139
Unsolicited advice for this round:
Ask your parents for stories from their younger days. You might learn something wild and fun about them.
Onward,
Dakota
P.S. Dudes, you know we’re guilty of these procrastination moves on Thanksgiving…
Thanks for reading Traipsing About! I appreciate your time and attention in a world where it’s a precious commodity.
This might be my favorite of all your posts. What a gift that you and your beautiful mother can create music together.
Love this story, the Tolle quote, and the wealth equation, Dakota. Glad you're on the mend and got to spend this valuable time connecting with your mom. Thanks for this heartwarming and thought-provoking post!