Ahhhhh! Music is the stuff of life, and
it makes life so sweet! This CD is the outcome of a somewhat fun and
fanciful idea.
In the course of
recording and performing the music CDs at Cathedral Whispers, I receive
constant feedback, ideas, likes, dislikes whether I solicit them or not.
All are appreciated. Many are profound, others amusing or just plain
curious. Almost always the feedback is initiated because the music
touched a listener deeply, usually in ways I could not imagine or
predict beforehand.
Seeing how the music of
Cathedral Whispers was touching people in so many wonderful ways, I
was reminded of the healing power of music and sound. It occurred to me
that music is one of those gifts that gives again and again, far beyond
the initial gift of the giver. I had an inspiration one day when
visiting a friend of mine in the hospital who had been in a serious car
accident. Hospitals are by design so very antiseptic and sterile. It may
be necessary in order to fight off the effects of germs and infection,
but it doesn't do much to treat the human spirit. Healing is about so
much more than simple machines, pills and diagnoses. The best, most
long-lasting and dramatic healing occurs within the human spirit, or at
least with the human spirit together in concert with the physical. The
hospital seems to me to be a most inhospitable place. But what could I
do to make it better for those who find they must be there?
The answer was simple….to
persuade people to give the gift of music - some could listen to it
while in the hospital and help promote the healing…and still others
that perhaps could not listen in the hospital - could listen later when
completing recovery at home. Oh yes - but the problem is that many
people think of flowers or greeting cards or plants or balloons when
sending kind thoughts and wishes to someone in the hospital, not music……and
what of the many people not sick enough to be an in -patient in the
hospital, but who were sick enough, or depressed enough, or just plain
stuck at home - who cannot regularly get out and about. What about the
lonely and the elderly? Hmmmmmmm?
Well - I had kind of a
weird idea. Many, many people have houseplants...many more love their
houseplants…..after all - it's a living thing and life likes to be
around life. Study after study shows that plants, like all living
things, respond in their own way to sound vibrations. More specifically,
plants grow better, appear healthier and seem happier when talked to
daily or when music is played for them. Now I know its not only my music
that they may like, but why not my music too? Why not have music that
could be played for houseplants, the very same houseplants that would
bring cheer and a happier environment to those in need of healing. And
it just might make it an easier connection for the gift giver when
thinking of that special friend or loved one.
In the middle of all of
the fun that could be had with this idea - is a serious underlying
premise….when the houseplants are listening, the people playing the
music are listening too - and their hearts and spirits have the
opportunity to heal. And Music For Houseplants to Grow By was
born. Given the underlying idea behind this CD, the music selected was
simply that from the Forever Light CD. I had already seen
the healing power of God in action though the power of the music on Forever
Light, and it seemed a natural, given who the target audience
for the houseplant CD would be. We changed the cover art to more
appropriately reflect the idea of playing music for plants, and
acknowledged that the music was basically the Forever Light music.
The re-designed cover also quite frankly gave us a better chance to
reach the kind of niche market listeners we might otherwise not be able
to reach….such as flower shops, plant stores and specialty gift shops
such as those in hospitals.
Final Thoughts: …..the
story of the CD cover for this Music for Houseplants to Grow By is
itself kind of a fun story. A friend of mine had a digital camera - he
fancies himself a "self -made" photographer - and we took a
lunch break together and went calling on local flower and plant shops.
If you can imagine two 40-something gentleman with a camera and a crazy
idea walking into flower shop businesses cold, introducing themselves,
"explaining" that they had this music for houseplants CD, and
asking permission to take a bunch of pictures - then you know what
laughter is all about. Most of the shop owners and managers I guess felt
sorry for us, because they all let us photograph to our hearts content,
with the promise that if their shop was used, they would get some free
publicity and some free CDs. The tray card art was fashioned from one of
the photographs taken, where the "cat" was spotted in a plant
basket minding his own business, and then subsequently was pressed into
a pose for one the "winning" photographs. I'm sorry, but I
didn't get the cat's name.
