April 12, 2016
I hold Red in my mind and thoughts rise like bubbles. They’re not what I expect.
This decision is rooted in fear.
I’m stuck in Repeat.
I’m bored.
Confined. categorized, manipulated, abused, constricted, driven, exhausted, worried, overstressed, coping.
Aren’t we all to some extent. And isn’t this an essential part of the story.
Then another thought rises (after a Mozart Requiem rehearsal):
Music changes everything.
I offer this idea in honour of Joan Watson, master of the french horn and incredible human, who calls to us all from the far-off place where we can be anything and anyone we choose to be. I was so privileged to meet and know her.
The horn solo at the end of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite is red. Red like freedom.
It will take an hour, so give yourself the time to listen to the entire piece. Close your eyes and follow the journey until the end. I weep without restraint, every time.
Red is alive like fire, compelling and warm and dangerous.
It’s intense like passion and its right use requires skill and discernment, its expert use true maturity.
I offer that without Red we would have no change, no challenge.
Without the red that changes everything, without challenge, life fades into monotone.
Joan, such an inspiration to so many, was not beige or grey.
Joan was, and is still, Red.