Today's DailyOM Offerings...
March 13, 2007
Fado Em Mim
Mariza
2002
Fado is the folk music of Portugal, a centuries-old style born of the melancholy love songs of the country's Moorish inhabitants and the sentimental modinhas that evolved in Brazil. Fado (literally "fate") is a music of yearning and sorrow, inextricably linked to the concept of saudade, a mix of pain, love, and nostalgia that has no English equivalent. As one of Portugal's most revered modern practitioners of the style, Mozambique-born Mariza has that saudade down on her debut album, Fado Em Mim. Only 28 when the album was released, Mariza sings with the conviction of a woman who has experienced a lifetime of sadness and the strength of one who knows how to get through it.
The songs on Fado Em Mim tackle big emotions-loss, longing, existential loneliness-and never once resort to melodrama, instead finding the personal core at the heart of each poetic lyric. Mariza is both fiery and forlorn on "Loucura," pleading in Portuguese, "This voice / So full of pain / It is the guilt of all of you / Poets of my life." Her voice moans and punches with a jazz singer's flexibility, and she decorates her phrases with a muezzinlike ornament that sounds like weeping. Two classical guitars match Mariza's cathartic keening on "Ó Gente Da Minha Terra," one building spare arpeggios that cradle her grief, the other plucking out teardrops one by one, echoing the first stanza of the song: "This destiny is yours and mine / A destination that ties us together...like the strings of a guitar."
Mariza's supple voice is just as well-suited for life's more smile-worthy moments. "Oiça La Ó Senhor Vinho" finds her in a bar, addressing a bottle of wine: "Your grace has reason / It's ungrateful to speak badly of the wine." The insistent beat of guitar and percussion keeps us clapping along as Mariza pounds down glass after glass, then gets up on the table, shrugs her shoulders, and announces to the bar patrons: "To prove what I say / Let's go, my friend, another small glass!" For a moment, we forget that she's probably drinking away her sorrows. Mariza cuts straight to the heart of the fado tradition, finding transformative power in emotional pain.
March 13, 2007
Comprehensive Curiosity
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
A desire to know more about your world and your place in it can cause you to feel intensely curious today. While you may fear that articulating your need for knowledge will interfere with others' right to privacy, consider that the people you care about will likely be pleased to answer your questions. If you give yourself permission to probe, you may find that you can plunge into the depths of your relationships and discover why you relate to the individuals most important to you. However, if your queries are met with resistance today, you may need to alter your approach to ensure that the subjects of your curiosity feel comfortable opening up to you.
The answers we receive to the questions we ask when spending time in the company of the people we care about can tell us much about the quality and nature of our relationships. When our loved ones respond to our queries in an open way, we are instantly able to grasp that there is a depth to our bond that lies beyond the visible surface of our associations. Yet even if we sense that the important individuals in our lives are holding something back from us, we should remain open in the manner in which we articulate our curiosity. Our loved ones, impressed by our willingness to speak freely in their presence, may find themselves inspired by our candor to give us the dual gifts of sincerity and earnest trust. Your need to investigate your world can indirectly strengthen your relationships today by bringing you and your loved ones closer together.
March 13, 2007
Rhythmic Rest
Natural Cycles Of Sleep
The human body evolved to fall asleep soon after the descent of night's curtain and to wake with the appearance of the dawn. Sleep cycles were governed by patterns of light and darkness for thousands of years, meaning that for much of history, humanity has enjoyed nine of more hours of sleep each night. Our bodies are naturally encoded to respond to light and dark and sleeping with the rhythms of Mother Nature. In the present, artificial light has changed the way we schedule our day-to-day lives, and most of us slumber for less than seven hours at a stretch. It is possible, however, to come back to natural sleeping cycles by making a few small changes. When our bodies and minds are attuned to the world's natural rhythms, we feel calmer, more centered, and more energetic while awake. Sleep is more satisfying because we afford ourselves more than enough time for restoration and rejuvenation.
Our reliance on indoor lighting further compounds our disassociation from the natural cycles of light and darkness that would otherwise preside over our sleep. You can mimic the passage of the day by changing the quality of the light. Sleeping without heavy drapery or shades is best so you can wake up with the sun. If sleeping by a window without a curtain is not an option, a dawn simulator lamp imitates the sun by growing steadily brighter with the coming of the height of morning.
You will likely discover that changing your sleep patterns to be in sync with the daily cycle of light and darkness is easy and that you feel more alive when your sleeping and waking rhythms are in alignment to those of the earth. Nature's own phases will be your guide to wellness, granting you more waking hours in the summertime when you will benefit greatly from spending time outside and ensuring you get plenty of sleep in the winter when you likely need it most.
Fado Em Mim
Mariza
2002
Fado is the folk music of Portugal, a centuries-old style born of the melancholy love songs of the country's Moorish inhabitants and the sentimental modinhas that evolved in Brazil. Fado (literally "fate") is a music of yearning and sorrow, inextricably linked to the concept of saudade, a mix of pain, love, and nostalgia that has no English equivalent. As one of Portugal's most revered modern practitioners of the style, Mozambique-born Mariza has that saudade down on her debut album, Fado Em Mim. Only 28 when the album was released, Mariza sings with the conviction of a woman who has experienced a lifetime of sadness and the strength of one who knows how to get through it.
The songs on Fado Em Mim tackle big emotions-loss, longing, existential loneliness-and never once resort to melodrama, instead finding the personal core at the heart of each poetic lyric. Mariza is both fiery and forlorn on "Loucura," pleading in Portuguese, "This voice / So full of pain / It is the guilt of all of you / Poets of my life." Her voice moans and punches with a jazz singer's flexibility, and she decorates her phrases with a muezzinlike ornament that sounds like weeping. Two classical guitars match Mariza's cathartic keening on "Ó Gente Da Minha Terra," one building spare arpeggios that cradle her grief, the other plucking out teardrops one by one, echoing the first stanza of the song: "This destiny is yours and mine / A destination that ties us together...like the strings of a guitar."
Mariza's supple voice is just as well-suited for life's more smile-worthy moments. "Oiça La Ó Senhor Vinho" finds her in a bar, addressing a bottle of wine: "Your grace has reason / It's ungrateful to speak badly of the wine." The insistent beat of guitar and percussion keeps us clapping along as Mariza pounds down glass after glass, then gets up on the table, shrugs her shoulders, and announces to the bar patrons: "To prove what I say / Let's go, my friend, another small glass!" For a moment, we forget that she's probably drinking away her sorrows. Mariza cuts straight to the heart of the fado tradition, finding transformative power in emotional pain.
March 13, 2007
Comprehensive Curiosity
Sagittarius Daily Horoscope
A desire to know more about your world and your place in it can cause you to feel intensely curious today. While you may fear that articulating your need for knowledge will interfere with others' right to privacy, consider that the people you care about will likely be pleased to answer your questions. If you give yourself permission to probe, you may find that you can plunge into the depths of your relationships and discover why you relate to the individuals most important to you. However, if your queries are met with resistance today, you may need to alter your approach to ensure that the subjects of your curiosity feel comfortable opening up to you.
The answers we receive to the questions we ask when spending time in the company of the people we care about can tell us much about the quality and nature of our relationships. When our loved ones respond to our queries in an open way, we are instantly able to grasp that there is a depth to our bond that lies beyond the visible surface of our associations. Yet even if we sense that the important individuals in our lives are holding something back from us, we should remain open in the manner in which we articulate our curiosity. Our loved ones, impressed by our willingness to speak freely in their presence, may find themselves inspired by our candor to give us the dual gifts of sincerity and earnest trust. Your need to investigate your world can indirectly strengthen your relationships today by bringing you and your loved ones closer together.
March 13, 2007
Rhythmic Rest
Natural Cycles Of Sleep
The human body evolved to fall asleep soon after the descent of night's curtain and to wake with the appearance of the dawn. Sleep cycles were governed by patterns of light and darkness for thousands of years, meaning that for much of history, humanity has enjoyed nine of more hours of sleep each night. Our bodies are naturally encoded to respond to light and dark and sleeping with the rhythms of Mother Nature. In the present, artificial light has changed the way we schedule our day-to-day lives, and most of us slumber for less than seven hours at a stretch. It is possible, however, to come back to natural sleeping cycles by making a few small changes. When our bodies and minds are attuned to the world's natural rhythms, we feel calmer, more centered, and more energetic while awake. Sleep is more satisfying because we afford ourselves more than enough time for restoration and rejuvenation.
Our reliance on indoor lighting further compounds our disassociation from the natural cycles of light and darkness that would otherwise preside over our sleep. You can mimic the passage of the day by changing the quality of the light. Sleeping without heavy drapery or shades is best so you can wake up with the sun. If sleeping by a window without a curtain is not an option, a dawn simulator lamp imitates the sun by growing steadily brighter with the coming of the height of morning.
You will likely discover that changing your sleep patterns to be in sync with the daily cycle of light and darkness is easy and that you feel more alive when your sleeping and waking rhythms are in alignment to those of the earth. Nature's own phases will be your guide to wellness, granting you more waking hours in the summertime when you will benefit greatly from spending time outside and ensuring you get plenty of sleep in the winter when you likely need it most.