If you only know the Beatles because “they are coming to iTunes,” you can stop reading right now. But if you are more intimately familiar with the Fab Four, please continue. I was shocked when a music critic recently said that the Beatles had only a passing impact on music, unlike the Rolling Stones who are still a major force. But I’m not going to debate the place of the Beatles in music history, just talk about their place in mine. Though I hate to mention things that establish my age, I do remember the Beatles debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. I was very, very young. I then lived in the house where my mother still lives – on a sparsely populated road bordered by the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, a 4,315 acre Biodiversity Reserve Area. Though there were long distances between the houses, there were three of us girls who were usually friends: Renee, Alison and me. That night we agreed to meet at Renee’s house to watch the show – something I ‘m sure we had never done before. Did our parents let us out of the house for this, or did we sneak out? I don’t honestly remember, but I do remember how dark and cold it was on that walk down to her house.
We watched silently, mesmerized by what we were seeing on the black and white screen. It was, of course, love at first sight, as it was for millions of others. For me, Paul was the one. I think now that was a very shallow choice. The show ended and it was time for us to go our separate ways home. I vividly remember the three of us walked outside to say good-bye and suddenly couldn’t restrain ourselves: As if on cue, we started screaming into the quiet black night. What made that happen? In his book, Life, Keith Richards says: “It was like somebody had pulled a plug somewhere…The music might be the trigger, but the bullet, nobody knows what that was.”
A whole generation of young people fell instantly and madly under the spell of four shaggy haired guys in Edwardian suits from Liverpool. Stonesmania followed Beatlemania and suddenly “the establishment” saw danger brewing. In our world today, where men hide bombs in their underwear to try and blow up planes, it’s hard to believe how much anger and fear could be stirred up by a bunch of teenage kids with long hair and guitars. The revolution had begun, or so we thought.
Renee became a nurse, Alison married a wealthy man and I am still trying to figure out my place in the world. I hadn’t thought about the Beatles in quite a while, but then my yoga teacher started playing Cloud Nine and the fantasy returned. This time I am not Mrs. Paul McCartney; I am George Harrison’s girlfriend. Together we travel to the ashram in India. Together we return enlightened and at peace -- my holiday wishes for everyone.
Kind (self) Regards,
Vicki
Vicki Wray lives in North Stamford, and until recently spent most of her waking hours in New York City as a corporate communications executive. Working for companies like Pfizer, Revlon and AOL Time Warner has allowed her to meet wonderful colleagues and a slew of interesting personalities including the president of the United States, supermodels and star athletes, famous artists and a Justice of the Supreme Court. She is a natural observer, type A personality, and a life-long "spa junkie". Vicki firmly believes in the health benefits of being kind to oneself; taking a moment to breath, relax and finding simple joy in our every day existence.
Her column, Kind (self) Regards, will be a regular feature of the Aetheria Spa blog. If you enjoy her point of view, or would like to share your ideas, please contact her at vicki@aetheriaspa.com.
1 comment:
keep writing Vicki, we want to hear more from you.
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