
After Eros, let’s consider Agape: unconditional love.
You’re probably thinking I’m going to lay another Greek myth on you. Not exactly. Well maybe…I’m not sure where this is going. The Pandora of which I speak is the music streaming company. I forgot it was installed on a bedroom TV. I had it for my father who lived with us in the last years of his life. So, the stations are his, and as I have been listening to them these last weeks, I think of my dad and what an amazing person he was. Since it’s his selection of music, I feel him with me even more – music is one powerful force. I love how nothing is by accident, and by mere happenstance (not really), I just read an article on how music affects the brain. Even if you’ve heard a song hundreds of times, the anticipation, the frisson, is as strong as ever, and dopamine and other happy chemicals are emitted by the brain. Then, I was listening to a show on YouTube about essentially the same thing – that music is good for you, and if you want to listen to your favorite songs for the 1,000th time: go for it!
Perhaps I did open Pandora’s box – actually in the versions of the myth it’s a jar. Nevertheless, what was released for me were not plagues and evils, but beloved memories. I was impressed by the variety of music my father enjoyed: classical – Cecelia Bartoli, Shostakovich, Brahms, Schubert, Mahler, – Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday (he adored her), Louis Armstrong (I think “What a Wonderful World” was my dad’s personal anthem), Bob Marley, Wilson Pickett, Milton Nascimento, Big Band orchestras, Jo Stafford, The Beach Boys, the Beatles, Charlie Parker, and here’s a few I found amusing: The Go-Go’s, R.E.M., ABBA and Cyndi Lauper. Where the hell did he come up with those? There’s many more – I’ll stop grocery listing – but they are indeed intriguing and genuinely eclectic.
Dad’s Pandora stations reaffirm for me his marvelous ease and joy of life, his open-mindedness, his embracing of all, his massive capacity to love, to forgive, and to endure. I’m not canonizing him, he was a beautiful wonderful flawed human being like the rest of us, but I must say that he did have an extra dazzle and sparkle that was a joy. He was a true gentleman, to the marrow, and women seemed to intuit this because they all loved him – often to my mother’s dismay. His humor and wit were superlative, and even when life threw him cataclysmic losses – they had no dominion over him. He remained the glorious generous person he always was.
Pandora in the ancient Greek means all-giving, I had forgotten that. How appropriate. It sums my father up – it is also what music does. At the end of Pandora’s story, the only thing left in the jar is Hope. Among the scholars and philosophers, Hope is another evil, a mixed bag at best. Much debate abounds – even drilling down to the meaning of the ancient Greek word, which is ambivalent at best.
Well shoot, it’s a sunny day, I’m in a good mood, and I need to wrap this up, so I’m going to go with the Pollyanna view which is hope is good thing. Hmm…isn’t that from The Shawshank Redemption?
So…Rock Out?
Clare Irwin
Nice piece! Yea the full quote is “hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” 🙂 Looking forward to more essays from you…
Clare! Beau- ti-ful!!! And, having known your father, it made me cry.😘
Sweet…luv what you wrote about your dad. Makes me think of music in the big moments in my life – like my wedding and our song & the song I danced to with my father. Thanks for this – got me thinking of nice memories. Elizabeth
Beautiful!! “Hope is a thing with feathers…….
Thank you & “let the music play on & on & on….
Clare, thank you for this. I was just thinking about my own dad & this has really helped me a lot. I really like how you weave the Pandora myth in and through. It’s really great, love your writing.
I like the article
And they were a gift. The love in you for your father and all in your orbit is evident with every expression. You are a gifted writer–I enjoyed every word.
You make some eloquent points. I hope to see you write more about this, because you are an insightful writer and I get immense value from reading your articles.
This design is spectacular! You obviously know how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos [?], I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…Ha-Ha!) Wonderful job. I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!