A LIFE WELL LIVED

The full-page obituary in the Los Angeles Times reminded readers that up to ten days ago Pete Seeger was chopping wood outside his farmhouse in upstate New York. And then he died. At age 94.

We should all be so lucky.

There is a marvelous Zen saying: “Before Enlightenment chop wood carry water, after Enlightenment, chop wood carry water.”

I have no idea what “enlightenment” is or “who” it may happen too, but I am suspicious of Mr. Seeger—that maybe he touched something very mysterious, something beyond the gray matter of his brain and lived his life from that place. It is reflected in the way he moved in the world, the ideas he valued and remained faithful to and the music, ah the music. Can you hum his songs? The ones he wrote or sang right into the national psyche? This Land is Your Land. If I Had A Hammer. Turn Turn Turn. We Shall Overcome. Are they part of the soundtrack of your life?

Pete Seeger showed us that music grows community and heals aching hearts. It gives us a rarified opportunity to experience something enlightening in ourselves. And in others. Music is sound AND silence. And there are untold goodies to be found in both.

I love doing my shows and probably got into this biz because I wanted to be noticed and feel special and fortunately I had a knack for singing and playing an instrument. The first gig I remember was at the Veterans Administration Hospital where I played the guitar and sang songs like “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round The Mountain” for the injured vets and encouraged them to sing along. I pulled off this stunt during a lunch break when I was in my first semester of nursing school doing clinical rotation at The VA. It was fun being the “girl singer” in a sprawling ward of men and I got my first glimpse of how a certain song elicits a smile or perhaps gives another a second wind.

That gig changed my life. I realized I liked this singing stuff a whole lot better than giving sponge bathes. I dropped out of nursing school and quit my night-shift job at the local emergency room. Soon I was doing what I love to do–making music–and getting paid for it!

But if you really want a big dose of “happy,” bring a whole bunch of people along on the ride. That way we all get to feel special. Pete Seeger was the living embodiment of this, beckoning and showing us what is possible. What feels right.

He says: “… when one person taps out a beat, while another leads into the melody, or when three people discover a harmony they never knew existed, or a crowd joins in on a chorus as though to raise the ceiling a few feet higher, then they also know there is hope for the world.”

Maybe a few among us reach the mountaintop and catch a glimpse of something that changes us forever. But we have to return to the mess of everyday life. We have to chop wood.

But we can sing too.

I whipped up an arrangement of “If I Had A Hammer” as a tribute to Pete Seeger for the Thursday class of the CC Strummers. We played through it a couple times and are feeling that “Pete Seeger” magic. It’s like taking a little trip to the top of the mountain.

We snagged a video so you can join in and sing along. Click here to watch.