Today's DailyOM Offerings...
May 8, 2012
It’ll End in Tears
This Mortal Coil
1984
An ideal musical scenario brilliantly executed, This Mortal Coil was not a band but a collaboration of versatile musicians that created a convergence of powerful music outside their normal work. Brainchild of Ivo Watts-Russell, who also established the independent UK record label 4AD, the multi-genre gothic-dream-pop all-star team covered 1960s and 1970s psychedelic and folk acts, combined with original compositions. The team connected artists, writers, and producers Gordon Sharp, Simon Raymonde, Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie, Howard Devoto, Lisa Gerrard, Robbie Grey, Colin Newman, John Fryer, Alex Chilton, Rema-Rema, and Roy Harper to the project. And the album topped the UK indie charts for a while after its release.
It’ll End In Tears can evoke emotional peaks and valleys that some people don’t desire to access, while others love tapping into nostalgia or sadness with a good song. It’ll End in Tears gives us the opportunity to let ourselves feel and heal. “Song to the Siren,” a love ballad expressed with a pure female voice, takes us on a journey of love felt, desired, and lost. The entrancing vocals run and fold amidst a simple melody. “Long afloat on shipless oceans / I did my best to smile / ‘Til your singing eyes and fingers / Drew me off into your isle / And you sang / Sail to me / Sail to me / Let me enfold you / Here I am / Here I am / Waiting to hold you.”
“Fyt,” the album’s first instrumental track, portrays Disney-like fantasy music meets grunge-punk, like an atmospheric wavy storm at sea. “Fond Affections” takes us into a sonic soundscape, combining sparse sound effects with structural instrumentals. The song takes us into darkness with words like, “Fond affections are never said. / They’re only sung in song. / I never was naïve enough to know when I was wrong. / There’s no light at the end of it all. / Let’s all sit down and cry.” And the album would not be complete without “Dreams Made Flesh,” Dead Can Dance’s epic addition. Lisa Gerrard’s vibrato is beyond operatic or flighty; it’s from another world. Words are secondary to her powerful chanting. It’ll End in Tears appeals to the deep yearning in us all for a pathway into feeling.
May 8, 2012
Speech that Soothes
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
As you encounter people working through personal issues today, you will likely feel compelled to reassure them in any way you can. A supportive mood can help you both sympathize and empathize with those in pain, those dealing with sadness, and those who simply have trouble finding their way into the light. Thought at first you may feel that your words are empty, you may come to realize that both your practical advice and your comforting expressions have merit. As you watch others derive strength from your guidance today, you will likely be tempted to test how it functions in the context of your experience. In this way, you may inadvertently step onto the path of self-healing.
In giving others comfort, we also reassure ourselves by creating scenarios in which we can see firsthand how easily the wisdom we draw from within can change someone’s life for the better. When we see the soothing effect our understanding words have on those we console, we recognize the truth underlying our calming monologues. Often, we give wonderful advice yet are hesitant to live by the guidance we have offered because we fear our speech was riddled with clichés. It is only when we see the manner in which our counsel has benefited the lives of our loved ones and associates that we can incorporate the wisdom we shared into our own lives. As you endeavor to give aid to the people you care about today, you will find that you feel more optimistic and self-assured.
May 8, 2012
The Power Within
Energy 101
by Madisyn Taylor
Energy cannot be destroyed, but it be changed and transformed.
There is an undercurrent of energy thrumming through the Universe. Like the wind or a whisper, we can sometimes hear it and often feel it. Most of the time, we sense this energy unconsciously without any tangible proof it is really there. Thoughts, emotions, and the life force in all living things are forms of this kind of energy. So are creativity, growth, and change. The impressions, images, and vague premonitions we get about people and situations are other examples of formless energy. When you enter a space and feel an “intangible tension” in the air that gives you a sense of foreboding in your gut, what you are likely experiencing is energy.
Energy cannot be destroyed, but it can be transformed or transferred from one person, thing, or source to another. Though energy is formless, it does take form and shape in the way it flows and resides within all things: a grain of sand, a bird, a stone, and an ocean wave. Living things radiate complex vibrations while nonliving things’ vibrations are simpler. Energy is a magnifier that can attract like energies while repelling disparate ones. Many of our reactions to people and circumstances are based on unconscious reactions to their energies. We may even intuitively tune into the energy of a situation we are facing when making a decision about how to proceed. With careful practice and meditation, we can learn to sense the energy within other living things and ourselves. We can also become more attuned to how we are impacted by different kinds of energy. For instance, being around too many energies can leave one person feeling edgy or excited, while another person will feel tired and drained.
While some people feel that energy can be controlled, others see it is as the unknowable force that moves through all things. The combined energy in all things plays a hand in birth, death, growth, movement, and stillness. Practitioners of Aikido believe that all living beings share a common energy source that is our life force. Whatever your beliefs, it is worthwhile to explore the roles energy plays in your life so you can understand it more fully.
It’ll End in Tears
This Mortal Coil
1984
An ideal musical scenario brilliantly executed, This Mortal Coil was not a band but a collaboration of versatile musicians that created a convergence of powerful music outside their normal work. Brainchild of Ivo Watts-Russell, who also established the independent UK record label 4AD, the multi-genre gothic-dream-pop all-star team covered 1960s and 1970s psychedelic and folk acts, combined with original compositions. The team connected artists, writers, and producers Gordon Sharp, Simon Raymonde, Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie, Howard Devoto, Lisa Gerrard, Robbie Grey, Colin Newman, John Fryer, Alex Chilton, Rema-Rema, and Roy Harper to the project. And the album topped the UK indie charts for a while after its release.
It’ll End In Tears can evoke emotional peaks and valleys that some people don’t desire to access, while others love tapping into nostalgia or sadness with a good song. It’ll End in Tears gives us the opportunity to let ourselves feel and heal. “Song to the Siren,” a love ballad expressed with a pure female voice, takes us on a journey of love felt, desired, and lost. The entrancing vocals run and fold amidst a simple melody. “Long afloat on shipless oceans / I did my best to smile / ‘Til your singing eyes and fingers / Drew me off into your isle / And you sang / Sail to me / Sail to me / Let me enfold you / Here I am / Here I am / Waiting to hold you.”
“Fyt,” the album’s first instrumental track, portrays Disney-like fantasy music meets grunge-punk, like an atmospheric wavy storm at sea. “Fond Affections” takes us into a sonic soundscape, combining sparse sound effects with structural instrumentals. The song takes us into darkness with words like, “Fond affections are never said. / They’re only sung in song. / I never was naïve enough to know when I was wrong. / There’s no light at the end of it all. / Let’s all sit down and cry.” And the album would not be complete without “Dreams Made Flesh,” Dead Can Dance’s epic addition. Lisa Gerrard’s vibrato is beyond operatic or flighty; it’s from another world. Words are secondary to her powerful chanting. It’ll End in Tears appeals to the deep yearning in us all for a pathway into feeling.
May 8, 2012
Speech that Soothes
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
As you encounter people working through personal issues today, you will likely feel compelled to reassure them in any way you can. A supportive mood can help you both sympathize and empathize with those in pain, those dealing with sadness, and those who simply have trouble finding their way into the light. Thought at first you may feel that your words are empty, you may come to realize that both your practical advice and your comforting expressions have merit. As you watch others derive strength from your guidance today, you will likely be tempted to test how it functions in the context of your experience. In this way, you may inadvertently step onto the path of self-healing.
In giving others comfort, we also reassure ourselves by creating scenarios in which we can see firsthand how easily the wisdom we draw from within can change someone’s life for the better. When we see the soothing effect our understanding words have on those we console, we recognize the truth underlying our calming monologues. Often, we give wonderful advice yet are hesitant to live by the guidance we have offered because we fear our speech was riddled with clichés. It is only when we see the manner in which our counsel has benefited the lives of our loved ones and associates that we can incorporate the wisdom we shared into our own lives. As you endeavor to give aid to the people you care about today, you will find that you feel more optimistic and self-assured.
May 8, 2012
The Power Within
Energy 101
by Madisyn Taylor
Energy cannot be destroyed, but it be changed and transformed.
There is an undercurrent of energy thrumming through the Universe. Like the wind or a whisper, we can sometimes hear it and often feel it. Most of the time, we sense this energy unconsciously without any tangible proof it is really there. Thoughts, emotions, and the life force in all living things are forms of this kind of energy. So are creativity, growth, and change. The impressions, images, and vague premonitions we get about people and situations are other examples of formless energy. When you enter a space and feel an “intangible tension” in the air that gives you a sense of foreboding in your gut, what you are likely experiencing is energy.
Energy cannot be destroyed, but it can be transformed or transferred from one person, thing, or source to another. Though energy is formless, it does take form and shape in the way it flows and resides within all things: a grain of sand, a bird, a stone, and an ocean wave. Living things radiate complex vibrations while nonliving things’ vibrations are simpler. Energy is a magnifier that can attract like energies while repelling disparate ones. Many of our reactions to people and circumstances are based on unconscious reactions to their energies. We may even intuitively tune into the energy of a situation we are facing when making a decision about how to proceed. With careful practice and meditation, we can learn to sense the energy within other living things and ourselves. We can also become more attuned to how we are impacted by different kinds of energy. For instance, being around too many energies can leave one person feeling edgy or excited, while another person will feel tired and drained.
While some people feel that energy can be controlled, others see it is as the unknowable force that moves through all things. The combined energy in all things plays a hand in birth, death, growth, movement, and stillness. Practitioners of Aikido believe that all living beings share a common energy source that is our life force. Whatever your beliefs, it is worthwhile to explore the roles energy plays in your life so you can understand it more fully.