gentle rhythms...

well! actually they are probably not so gentle really! :)

I'm listening to Jimi Hendrix "Band of Gypsys" in the car right now.

This one album - to which I have come VERY late in life it seems :) - combines nearly all my favourite genres of music in one strange and magical mix of rhythm, blues, jazz, fusion, soul, funk and pure rock.

The more I listen to it the more I can hear in it the bands I "usually" listen to. Obviously this particular Jimi Hendrix classic inspired a legion of future music icons.

I just like its groove. It is absolutely the coolest music to play in the car! :) And the fact that I am considered pretty "cool" for my music tastes, by my teenage son's mates, is a bonus I might add *wink* :)

Playing it on the drive home from work today felt completely right for the way my day transpired; with the steady rhythm of daily routines played out fluidly, a kind of gentle flow to my working day. They came with a dash of the unexpected thrown in to make them refreshing and "different" from the norm. That unexpected stuff worked with the routines today and didn't seem to throw me like they might have six months ago.

It seems that sometimes, work can be played at like Jimi played his guitar. Of course, there are times when I find work very hard and my heart and soul are not in it at all. The routines become like battles to be fought and won. There are - thank goodness - days like today too, when work flows from one process to the next in a groove that feels just right.

Jimi played his guitar like it was the easiest thing to do in the world. He made his guitar sing for him as an extention of himself. He brought his unique Gift and Genius to his guitar playing that made it stand out and shine among a plethora of other guitar players of his time.

Work can be like that if we let it. When we master the routines and they become less chores and more a kind of dance or a song, it becomes well...! Not really work I guess. There is a blending of both learning and natural Genius at work when one is at work like this.

Jimi had to learn his guitar! He had to practise at it. He got the basics down and from there he was able to build his repetoire into what I hear on this CD.

When we finally know the process instinctively...we can turn it into magic and add some sparkle to it so it isn't mundane anymore. That spark is our own natural gift blended in with the common knowledge of the work at hand and that combination of practical skill and individual Gift is what can make our work play like Jimi plays the guitar!