SoulPancake

Ever watched a tearjerker without sound? No matter how powerful the imagery is, it’s usually the accompanying soundtrack that triggers the emotional response. Music's mysterious and latent effects can play a major role in influencing our hearts. Some believe music can heal. And it can even directly influence our intelligence.

How does music serve as a tool in your life—for healing or otherwise?

:: music meds prescribed by @golriz

“You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough. You must want it with an inner exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world.” —Sheilah Graham

Oh really, Sheilah? There are plenty of things I’ve desperately wanted and didn't get. Like being taller. For months, I begged my parents to put me on growth hormones. But then a report came out about growth hormones causing cancer, and I guess the cons (death) outweighed the pros (not having to get jeans taken up). If you jumped on The Secret train, then you probably agree with the quote above. So here’s the question:

Have you ever gotten EVERYTHING you desperately wanted? If not, what do you chalk it up to?

:: long-legs envy by @golriz

[CHALLENGE: QUICK WRITE]

“From native simplicity we arrive at more profound simplicity.” —Albert Schweitzer

"Prayer is conversation with God." —'Abdu'l-Bahá

Now put them together. Write a conversation (read: prayer) with God. Use only seven words.

:: sms prayer by @golriz

[SEE. THINK. TALK.]

I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Let's just say that when I was a kid, I used to cry if I colored outside the lines. But it's also why I have a great appreciation for art—it is, after all, often times perfect. So I was surprised by what there was to learn from artist/photographer Shinichi Maruyama. Much of Shinichi's work is inspired by the concept of wabisabi, the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. Each swirl of water and ink is unique and perfectly, well, imperfect. So I chatted with Shin about how to perfectly understand the art of imperfection.

[CHALLENGE: LIFE’S BIG LISTS]

Sometimes, I’m courageous without even knowing it; other times, I’ve had to work to muster it up. But without exception, courage pays off—whether it’s monumental in scope like Rosa Parks’ or a little less grandiose but just as life-expanding. Here are my finest courageous moments:

1. Went to college in a city 700 miles from the farm on which I grew up, knowing no one and nothing about Nashville.
3. Left the near-guarantee of a soul-crushing career to work in a coffeehouse. It was there I met the love of my life.
2. Said, “I need help.”
4. After months of almost doing it, finally standing on the edge of the dock at camp and diving in headfirst. So. much. fun.
5. He said, “Will you marry me?” I said, “Yes.”

List five times you have shown courage.

:: bravely admitted by @meggo

[SP EXCLUSIVE]

After six hours of coaching, I was ready to go home. My on-court clients’ concerns that day had run a broad range: work, weight, and waiting; chronic pain; adultery; addiction to Internet porn; and a service toss (tennis?) that turned out to be connected to his fear of initiation. A normal, full morning.

But I had a date planned with my wife at 2:30 p.m. for some scary movie (The Da Vinci Code). Love the matinees—cool, dark rooms, holding hands, fresh popcorn. Since it was 1 p.m. and pushing 100 degrees in the San Fernando Valley, I began to leave the tennis facility when another player called out, "Zach, you know everyone. Can you help this guy? He needs someone to hit with."

I know the world is full of injustice—yet it doesn't make me want to get on a Greenpeace boat to save the whales or fight the tyrannical health insurance companies or bust innocent people out of jail. I defend my inaction by saying I don't have time... and that there are too many flawed systems... oh, and I’m (alas) not a crime-fighting superhero. We all have to be selective about the battles we choose, but perhaps by doing so, we are turning a blind eye to injustice.

What is one injustice you are actively working against?

:: justice blindfolded by Tyler Earles

Chicago

:: filmed & edited by Varqa Buehrer :: interviews by Tony Thomas :: beats by Plot Twist

[CHALLENGE: QUICK, WRITE]

If you could only use 10 words to describe yourself, what would they be?

[SEE. THINK. TALK.]

Diego Stocco finds music in the most unlikely of places. Burning pianos. Lightbulbs. Sand. What will he think of next?

We’re a visually driven culture, relying heavily on what we see to understand the world. Maybe what we should be doing instead is listening. And I don't mean hearing. I hear just fine, but I'm not listening. Maybe I’m overstimulated and easily distracted—or maybe I never learned how to listen in kindergarten.

But something... er, someone... tells me I need to start listening: That person would be musician and sound designer Diego Stocco. Since coming across his work a while ago, I was fascinated at how he could discover sounds that I didn’t even know existed, extracting music and resonance from sand, lightbulbs, drying racks, and burning piano strings. Not only could Diego listen, but he could tune in at a whole other frequency. I had to learn for myself how Diego did it.