Mind Worms

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Did you ever hear a song on the radio or in a movie and you couldn't get it out of your head? You sang or hummed the song or parts of it to yourself all day without realizing what you were doing? This replaying of a song over and over again is called a "mind worm."

Last week my husband and I watched the movie "Delovely"--a musical biography about Cole Porter. Mr. Porter was a little before my time, but many of the songs he wrote are so familiar that everyone recognizes them. For some reason I can't seem to get one of the songs from the movie out of my head - Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love) - I even went so far as to search for it on Youtube and have replayed it many times. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElPKuJGWjjQ

I don't know what I find so appealing about the song or the video, but it evokes many different feelings: I find it uplifting; it makes me want to dance; it reminds me of the old movies I watched as a child on Saturday afternoons and the songs my unmarried aunts sang when reminiscing about the good old days; it speaks to me about happier times; and it has created in me a longing to find something I didn't even know was missing.

Maybe that is what growing older is all about: creating a biography of yourself in your head; reviewing the good and bad, the failures and successes; and coming to terms with our lives and mortality. But, after listening to "Let's Fall in Love" for the hundredth time, I think it is also about living life to the fullest, experiencing new things, and recognizing that the journey isn't over until we take our last breathe.

"There is a need to find and sing our own song, to stretch our limbs and shake them in a dance so wild that nothing can roost there, that stirs the yearning for solitary voyage." ~Barbara Lazear Ascher ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~