What's Your Background Music?

Once a friend told me that she was having her baby and that she was going to do it at home, without drugs, I’m told that means a lot of pain, and asked me if I would make her some CDs of music that would usher her through this grueling and beautiful experience with mindfulness and peace. I got to make the mix CD that became background music for one of the most memorable experiences that this woman will ever have in her life. I am honored to have participated in such a momentous event in that relatively small way. Last year my brother made me a playlist for a marathon. It was mile 20 of the race, my tired legs were trudging up the side of this impossibly long and hill (it was a trail marathon) and just as I was about to expire, the cliché and unyieldingly victorious power-chords of Eye of the Tiger began beating in my ears. As that song began, my gaze focused, my legs jumped into action, and my nerves solidified. Those notes pushed me up that hill and fueled me to go on to finish the race. One track on my playlist was his voice telling me to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Days change. The world spins around like a record and what we played as our background music today is different than yesterday. It’s all part of being real with where you are at today. It’s all part of paying attention and we do that in all sorts of ways, whether that’s through a yoga practice or choosing the song that acts as our background music for today. What would be your background music today? Today mine would be If It Be Your Will written by Leonard Cohen and performed by Antony. If you are interested in sharing your background music for today, go to my Facebook page and share a link of your song. It will be wonderful to hear what other people have chosen for their music.