Viiiiiibrrraaaationnnssss (Week 6)

Are all vibrations "good"? 

Anyone else hear that Beach Boys song when they hear this? Ok, back to physics...

Yes and no- ha! A classic eastern medicine answer. Vibrations are good or bad depending on the context. Vibrations that Evelyn Glennie senses and then manipulates and orders into beautiful music are great to many ears I'm sure, but perhaps not all. Some people must not care for Vivaldi, right? (not me)



Natural frequencies that resonate with one another can create powerful change. An opera singer breaking a wine glass could be good as a party trick, but a bridge crumbling in the event of an earthquake can be tragic.


Resonance in my world

When I think of resonance in my world, like above with vibrations, it isn't always good or bad. Sometimes it's wonderful. I think of the way it feels to hug my husband or just to be in his presence. Even before I knew him well it felt like his energy meeting mine was relaxing in a very subtle yet tangible way. It's curious to think about how our individual vibrations travel, or how far. And how sensitized to them can we become?

I can also think of some people who I've seen across a room or met briefly and it's quite the opposite experience. Their vibration resonates with mine in some way that sets off very unpleasant feelings. Like stirring a terrible pot.


Connections between Energy & Qi

I see the challenges with energy and qi being similar to those we have with consciousness. We "know" because we experience it, that it is present with us now as I write or you read. And yet we can't put boundaries on it, understand it fully, know when it started or when exactly it ends. Energy and qi are ver much the same. I enjoyed this passage from the reading:

"Since the scientific system of measurement is limited by our own humanness (hopefully it is early in the history of human knowledge), frustration can erupt when something as obvious and central as energy that is so clearly expressed in life, eludes today's measurement abilities." (www.doctorcal.org/energy.html)

With energy, qi, and consciousness too, it's hard to understand what is mine, yours, or its. Where are the edges? How can we compartmentalize it? Can we accept that there is something that can be influenced without being destroyed? Can be felt without being understood? Known in the present without understanding it's origin? Sounds like there need to be leaps of faith...never easy, especially for the westerner.


Last thought: Imagine if we could see the qi moving though Evelyn Glennie as well as the vibrations that move from all the surfaces she plays in this video? Now that would be astounding.