My little daily nothings…

As I have a turntable again, I played my parents’ old vinyl recording called An Evening with Yves Montand. It’s from the 1950’s. It’s a recording of Montand’s first American tour. I think they might have seen him at Carnegie Hall. On it is a song called Les petits riens quotidiens… Alas, I cannot find a clip to include here. But you can find it on Spotify. The lyrics of the song state that things in life are really very simple and that everything starts all over again every day. And it glorifies the little daily nothings of life that perhaps we take for granted. Like the simple pleasure of finding again a friend. Or the echo of a song we love so well. Les petits riens quotidiens is such a song for me. So, I will continue here recounting my little daily nothings as I go about my recuperation. Since I have had to step off my particular merry-go-round right now I am able to reconnect with these simple, exquisite pleasures with abandonment and utter joy. I think that espousing the Technique enhances this joy.

I do have time these days to read lots. Such a blessing! I am currently reading a very particularly chosen mélange: F. Matthias Alexander’s Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen, and yet another re-read of A la recherche du temps perdu, Marcel Proust. This is an amazing mix for me right now and I am meditating on what I am reading in my solitude. I jump from one book to another. I am also thinking a lot about Albert Camus these days. He would have now been 100 years old. I found two links that really inspire me. One is of a recording of his reading his Nobel Prize speech. And a link to the English translation of the speech. How I have managed never to have read this speech before just amazes me. Me, who used to teach L’Étranger over and over again in French and Comparative Literature classes. Well now, as I am trying to find my voice in the writing of this humble blog of mine, I am listening to something so sublime! I am listening over and over. I am reading his words over and over. Here is one quote from his speech: “The artist forges himself to the others, midway between the beauty he cannot do without and the community he cannot tear himself away from. That is why true artists scorn nothing: they are obliged to understand rather than to judge. And if they have to take sides in this world, they can perhaps side only with that society in which, according to Nietzsche’s great words, not the judge but the creator will rule, whether he be a worker or an intellectual.”

Back down from the clouds: what I would like to do now is to write an homage to my table. It’s kind of a big daily something. Merci beaucoup to my borrowed table! It enables me to have Alexander Technique lessons at home! But really and truly mille fois merci to my three special friends who set me up with the table: to Madame for so kindly offering to lend it to me in the first place; to Monsieur for bringing it uptown to me (big schlep); and to the other Monsieur who arranges it, gives me table turns on it, puts it away, and gets a kick out of the fact that I take photos of it! Shout out to them! You guys are the best!

The table!

So above is the table with some blankets on it and my pile of books for under my head. The other day was the first day in months that I could do a regular table turn. In other words, my left leg didn’t need to rest on a cushion. Yay!!! Way to go recuperating knee! And below is a close up of my pile of books. Ooh…Le Horla…scary stuff! That the Maupassant is hanging out on my table is sheer coincidence. But fun… The second Monsieur just grabbed a bunch of books off of a shelf and said “Can we use these?” Ergo…

The pile of books for under my head. Ahhh! Le Horla!

Not only was I able to have a regular type table turn, I was able to do a real chair turn! Oh happiness! Getting in and out of a chair! I think that I will forever be gleeful about being able to get in and out of a chair with ease and with good use of self! “It’s not getting in and out of chairs even under the best of conditions that is of any value: that is simply physical culture. It is what you have been doing in preparation that counts when it comes to making movements.” From Aphorisms, F. Matthias Alexander.