Live the Rhythm, Love the Riff!

The rhythm or the riff?

A great song will always have a great rhythm – it’s okay to mix it up by adding in a great riff – but it won’t come together without that rhythm.

Life is a bit like a song, as much as some of us live for and thrive on that memorable highlight – that great riff – we all need the everyday backbeat to hold it together.

Just imagine you are out on an open road in the country; sapphire blue sky overhead, cruising along a corridor of charcoal grey tarmac, flanked by deep green trees on either side. An easy beat plays in the background. Suddenly the speakers start thumping out some heavy metal. The electric guitar starts to scream, and you can’t help yourself, you just have to wind down that window, press a little harder on the accelerator and belt out a few of the lyrics along with it. The wind snatches them from your mouth and they disappear into the emerald blur whizzing by.

It doesn’t matter that your audience consists only of the startled birds perched on nearby branches, it’s still feels great… Exhilarating!

Soon enough, the music has quietened. Your pulse and your pace slows as the easy rhythm returns. You relax back into your seat, continuing on toward your final destination.

Every now and then that backbeat loses its rhythm. An extended holiday or break from work, the leap from primary (or elementary) school to high school, a shift in career expectations or goals… even a pandemic! That verse in the song of life might falter, there might be a few bars you would rather forget. It might even include a great riff. But keep your feet on the ground and you’ll find that rhythm again… Ready for the next verse in the song of life.

I love a rhythm with a touch of country – a routine with a touch of family. I also love to mix it up a bit… And you can’t beat a great riff from the master himself, AC/DC’s Angus Young!

There is nothing like a great soundtrack to enhance the spice of life.

My rhythm faltered for a while, and so did my musings, but with a few bars I’d rather forget and a great riff or two, the backbeat has returned and so have my Morning Coffee Musings 🎶

Musing over Reminiscing

Today I find myself having a morning coffee musing about an afternoon’s reminisce over a Reisling… Well not quite, it was actually a very tasty Sauvignon Blanc.

Catching up with friends is like a sprinkle of sugar on a doughnut, like the proverbial icing on the cake. We might still otherwise enjoy that doughnut or piece of cake, but it is the dusting of sugar or lick of icing that makes it extra special. Just as moments with friends can be the spice of life.

I feel so incredibly fortunate to know that I have pinches of the “spice of life” scattered all over this spectacular country – literally north to south, and east to west.

It is truly comforting to know that regardless of my location or situation, I will always be able to take a moment and enjoy the company – either from a distance or face-to-face – of someone who really gets me. A family member or longtime friend. A recent association or “mother in arms”. A colleague or casual acquaintance.

Significant (if not always long-lived) friendships come unexpectedly and from all walks of life. Somehow at that moment, something connects you… A common purpose, a common need, a common interest.

Never ignore an opportunity to positively interact with someone. It feeds the soul, and becomes the spice of life!