I wrote this piece in 2010, on a small Celtic lap harp on which I took a few lessons. I’ve lost that old harp recording, but you can listen to a ukulele version with lyrics here.
Now you can hear the piece as if it had two voices. That is, the melody is echoed, and two sets of strings put the echo in the same octave, similar to the ukulele version, instead of one being an octave higher than the other.
If this makes your head spin, pay it no mind, and just enjoy listening! You will understand. 🙂
If you’ve read and listened this far, I really appreciate it! I’d also love to know if you have a favorite out of the versions I’ve linked here!
1. The mind is like a fridge
That’s full of leftover containers.
We’ve got to clean them out sometime;
It’s really a no brainer.
We keep what’s good, throw out what’s bad,
Learn from the happy and the sad,
And turn the rest into the best we can.
2. If we keep keeping all the stuff
In our refrigerator,
It’ll get a little spicy, dicey,
Sooner before later.
Responsible for what we hold,
We must be mindful, daring, bold
And turn the rest into the best we can.
3. There is a Spirit deep inside
That’s waiting on our calling,
For strength that only It provides
To help us when we’re falling.
The mind is deep, the mind is vast!
So let the part that’s everlasting
Turn the rest into the best we can.
We’re not alone, and we’re not done!
Our journey’s only just begun!
So turn the rest into the best we can!
Let Spirit turn the rest into the best we can!
I’m really glad the pollen count goes down in Fall,
or does it?
We really don’t know anymore,
but you do!
I’m also glad for that!
I’m so grateful for the ability,
the opportunity,
the decision,
and the courage to talk to you!
There are some things I need to say.
I dare not discuss them with my fellow humans,
because everyone is so darn touchy nowadays!
They would think I was talking about them,
when really I’m talking about myself!
Nevertheless, Thy will be done!
Every now and then,
at least once in a blue moon,
would it be too much trouble
to have a day when I’m not sizzling inside like hot lava,
feeling angry at you-know-who (not you, the human I live with),
or worse, making him angry with me
by simply expressing an opinion
that doesn’t match his?
You know
it’s not just the current world crisis
making us this way.
It’s been like this
our entire marriage!
I say that
as if we’ve been married a long time.
But it’s only been 18 months!
And every month,
every week,
every day,
sometimes every hour,
it gets worse and worse!
Is it true what he seems to think,
that marriage means always
and
forever
saying
and
doing
what your partner wants,
just because he thinks it’s best?
And that
doing things this way
promotes harmony
in the relationship?
You’re heaps wiser
than either of us
will ever be!
So, I know
that you know!
Please, God!
Help me know the truth!
Am I insane?
Unreasonable?
Crazy?
Delusional?
Wrong?
Ungrateful?
Argumentative?
And all the other things
he claims?
Am I
really
that
bad?
If I am,
why doesn’t he leave?
After all, he’s the one
with all the money,
whereas I have none!
So, if I were in his place,
living with someone
I thought was so terrible,
I would leave!
Not sit around
complaining about it!
Please, God!
I need help!
And I know
you already know
what I have need of
before I ask!
I call upon your
love,
healing,
wisdom,
creativity,
and humor
(Or is it humour?),
and whatever else you grant me,
not to change anyone else!
But to change me
as you see fit!
Make me like a babbling brook,
always moving merrily along,
never getting stuck or stagnant,
so that I may live a life,
regardless of the people in it,
that is pleasing
to
you
and
you
alone!
Thank you, God,
for your time
and Almighty attention
to this matter!
The thing we think is love, is not!
It’s need that fools a foolish mind.
In time we feel constrained, confined,
As growth provides a different plot.
So fixed on love, the mind forgot
To listen with the Spirit’s ears.
If truly sought, true love appears!
We cease to cling, but open wide!
Our needs are met, but from inside.
To love another, conquer fears!
It’s changing and changeable, contracting and contractible, expanding and expandable, a true wonder of nature!
Unfortunately, it’s also elastic in its habits, obsessively returning to them, building their negativity, over and over and over again.
Just when we think we’ve dealt with an issue, moved past a hurdle, forgiven someone, conquered guilt and fear, or grown at last, we find our minds taking that same old trip down that well-traveled, all too familiar negative spiral instead, again and again and again!
What can we do about this insanity, for insanity it is, if insanity really means doing the same thing over and over and over again, but expecting different results?
We must constantly, elastically, over and over and over again, give up our minds to the Great Higher Mind, the One that changes nature, and the One that makes nature willing to change!
Mystical Strings 
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