March 26, 2024
Do you know the meaning of transcendence? Did you know pine trees can sing? Do you?
Sure. You can Google it or find it in a dictionary, but have you ever experienced it? I did today.
When I was a teenager I learned what an out-of-body experience is. Some discover this through religion, drugs, psychopathy, or medical intervention with electricity among many other ways. My first experience was through music in a dark room by myself, and I had not yet discovered drugs as far as they related to me, myself, and I.
Music has been a big part of my life since the beginning. My mother had a passion for all types, my brother closely followed suit, and so did I. Led Zeppelin IV is widely acclaimed as one of the best records of all time, and Stairway to Heaven is arguably the standout track. This song came on my mix CD while in my dorm room one night when I was 15. The experience of visions, free-flowing thoughts, and the feeling of being directed by the music was life-changing. Explaining this to my mother on the phone the next day she explained this sounded like an out-of-body experience.
Today, on my treadmill at 2.9 miles per hour with a heart rate of 171, or says my Samsung smartwatch, I was taken again to musical transcendence without any expectation. Miley Cyrus and several other talented artists have a cover of Nothing Else Matters released in 2021. This is on my Liked Songs YouTube Music playlist. When I’m not in a particular mood for a work out I will hit shuffle on this and go. Today that shuffle served up this track right after Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys.
The view outside my patio door is of the yard, the neighbor’s chainlink fence, and a mid-height pine tree. Today I learned that pine tree sings like Mley. At least it did while I transfixedly watched it while on autopilot. As the song wound down I realized I had no recollection of putting effort into my treadmill or even breathing. This does not happen often, and few tracks have done this to me, but I am happy to add this one to that short list.