Beauty Embodied

Today I am immensely grateful for the chance to witness beauty beyond words in a world that is somehow bent on making everything unfathomably desperate. That the concert featuring a quartet who, without argument, were the very manifestations of the word 'maestro', was entitled "One Beautiful Night of Music" was certainly germane as everything that transpired, every note played, every stroke and pluck of the strings, every pounding and caressing of keys, every delicate infusion of air to create song was beauty embodied.

What is Beauty really?  I define it to be this arresting sense that draws one's attention inward. Inward where the breath is all that exists. Inward where the body is unable to contain such magnanimity and translates it into joyful movement, dance, applause or in my case, tears. Tears that transform into language. 

The violin held my heart. The violin that seemed to have a life beyond any incomprehensible reason that sang to the recesses of emotion buried deep in one's being. A vehement fierceness that drew from my parched well of my own being my grief permeated with occasional moments of relief, joy interspersed with reckoning, peace permeated by turmoil. The violinist was not only the maker of such beautiful music. Elaiza Jem Tangalin was the music as every cell of her body it seemed expressed the breadth of emotions that each piece demanded.  A catharsis of the soul, if you will. And what's left is beauty. Beauty embodied.  

I loved the softness and gentleness of the flute. The way it provided such a delicate contrast with the passion of the violin. I am now reminded of the quote "Nothing is so strong as gentleness, and nothing is so gentle as true strength." God knows how much we need this kind of strength right now, this kind of beauty, right now. Strength in Gentleness as Beauty. Beauty Embodied in flutist Nico Dioneda.

Kyongmin Nam Fiel and her soul in the cello was the quiet yet reverberating calm that held the notes of the sensuous aggression of the violin and the delicate grace of the flute. With every movement of the bow across the strings, she reminded me of that steady sound of the universe grounding us where we should be. That familiar and comforting call where even as we stray far away from our individual journeys to truth, we always come full circle to our life's true home. Home. Where the heart is. Where beauty is. Embodied.

And of course the piano. The piano that commanded the attention of each and every human being in the room. Like a voice that says, " Look here. Listen here. Be fully here. Now, in this moment. Nowhere else. Nothing else. But this moment in time. " This was my third time hearing Dingdong Fiel perform live. And each and every time, he reminds me over and over of what it is like to truly become who and what you are meant to be in this life. Call it vocation. Call it a life's mission. Call it enlightenment. His very essence may be defined in so many different terms. But I think what it is is simply, undeniably, what love is. Love as he creates music in his heart flowing into his fingers that press those black and white keys. Love that holds the thread in the passion of the violin, the grace of the flute, the calm of the cello. Love in every thought, intention, word, and deed.  A return to love. Isn't this what our purpose here on earth is? To live in love is beauty embodied. 

One Beautiful Night of Music, the concert was entitled.  In a world where it is bent on making everything desperate, this one night of music reminded me how there is still goodness left in this world. There are still the gifts of passion, grace, calm and most of all love that prevail. Only if we take the time to see it, listen to it, be present for it in the body, mind and spirit. And in our own ways, embody it. So we also in turn in whatever roles we play in our individual lives may each be Beauty Embodied as well. 

Elaiza Jem Tangalin, Nico Dioneda, Kyongmin Nam Fiel, Dingdong Fiel, thank you for sharing these gifts to our community.