Robert Gale Ongley

Month: August 2023

  • HARMONY…THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE

    The primary focus of this post is going to be musical harmony, which I must admit is a specific aspect of a larger whole. Harmony in relationships large and small, complex and simple, covers a lot of ground. That is not being ignored or forgotten, but this is an ode to the harmony in music and what it means in my life.

    Harmony Enriches

    Music is almost other worldly with its refinement of sound, its mathematical wonders and seemingly infinite combinations. Its effect on the psyche is multi-dimensional, capable of taking us from the pits of despair up to joy and impetus to action. Or it can make us anxious or even somber. It can underscore agony as well as ecstasy. Yet, the most exquisite effect comes from harmony, in my opinion.

    When I hear certain elements of harmony, I find it so pleasing it passes into the category of thrilling. That’s how it is when I’m singing with others and we achieve harmonic tones I don’t really even understand. I know how it works, usually in thirds up the scale from the melody. Some combinations are better than others, something I can’t explain. All I know is, hearing that and especially creating it enriches my life.

    Hearing It

    Looking back to my early life, I recall no awareness of harmony in music until I joined the chorus of my elementary school in 6th grade. I had to learn my part and realized how it fit in with the overall piece we were singing. I wish I remembered the name of the song we were doing. I’d love to sing that part again. I gained a greater appreciation for music at that point.

    As an aside, I have a “Certificate of Musical Ability” from Brundo Music in Niagara Falls, New York in 1959. I was nine years old at the time. I had taken some lessons from them on the accordion, but I was just a beginner. I have no sense of grasping harmony then. It took that immersion in a singing chorus to awaken me.

    I don’t remember noticing it in the music I listened to (rock ‘n roll and country mainly) during that part of my life. I know I really wanted to play guitar, but my parents wouldn’t support that idea. After having the accordion forced on me for a while, I just dropped out. On to 7th grade, I was just listening to music and not participating in it.

    The first popular music I recall furthering the awakening to harmony came from The Four Seasons. They recharged my love of music through their magnificent harmonies. Then along came the Beatles and I was driven to sing some of the harmony parts they created. My auditory horizons were then broadened to truly hear the rich harmonies found in soul music, doo-wop, more British Invasion groups and eventually the Beach Boys. Ever since, I’m on the alert for the harmonic elements of the music entering my ear.

    Singing It

    I did learn to play the guitar in my late teens and I’ve written quite a few songs. One of the greatest pleasures I can know is to have others I’ve played with take up harmony parts complementing melodies I’ve composed. However, it doesn’t really matter whether a song is mine or anyone else’s. If I can join with my friends in a great harmony, I feel a tickle in one or more of my sacred chakras. I can’t help but equate it with a high vibrational love.

    I was talking several years ago with a guy who is part of successful duo here in Arizona. The subject was their music. He said when he first sang with his partner, he actually experienced an erection. It was that good and apparently exciting.

    I haven’t had that reaction to singing with anyone, but I did have one remarkable event involving the woman who would become my wife. We had been seeing each other for only a couple of weeks or so when one of us ( I think it was me) launched into a doo-wop song called What’s Your Name, a hit song by the duo Don and Juan. My recollection is my lover joining in immediately with all the lyrics and a perfect harmony to my lead melody. We were delighted and stunned. As we like to say, it was a strong indicator we had found the person with whom we wanted to spend the rest of our lives. Maybe that’s a bit embellished, but the harmony in the song enhanced the greater harmony between us, spirit to spirit, and bonded our relationship. We’re still together, 46 years later.

    Wisdom on the Subject

    “Music from my fourth year began to be the first of my youthful occupations. Thus early acquainted with the gracious muse who tuned my soul to pure harmonies, I became fond of her, and, as it often seemed to me, she of me.” Ludwig van Beethoven

    “Living here on Earth, we breathe the rhythms of a universe that extends infinitely above us. When resonant harmonies arise between this vast outer cosmos and the inner human cosmos, poetry is born.” Daisaku Ikeda

    “When I had my first experiences of choral singing, the dissonance of those close harmonies was so exquisite that I would giggle or I would tear up, and I felt it in a physical way.” Eric Whitacre

    “I like to be surrounded by harmonies and fullness and richness and vitality.” Al Jardine

    From the Heart

    Joining a song in harmony requires hearing the melody another being is communicating in whatever form of love they know. Lending harmony is an acknowledgment of their communication and adding to it, like when an improv artist says, “Yes, and…”

    If we can hear what those around us are saying and bring acknowledgment along with a response that adds to what is being said instead of detracting from it, we will bring more and more harmony to the world.

  • UNBELIEVABLE CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND WHAT SOME FIND BELIEVABLE ABOUT THEM

    I am not a stranger to conspiracy theories. I’ve entertained a few in my life and I’ve been captivated by a few more. Although I don’t consider myself a conspiracy theorist, I don’t rule out all of them. Besides, some of them have been proven to be true.

    Governments are the target of most conspiracy theories. It turns out they are actually at the bottom of activities that prompted generation of the conspiracy. You may have heard of some of these. For instance, during Prohibition, our federal government pressured alcoholic beverage manufacturers to lace their products with strong poisons to discourage people from drinking them. This ultimately led to over 10,000 poisoning deaths directly related to the government’s operation. Another example is the CIA’s mind control tests using LSD and other hallucinogenics. MK-ULTRA was the name of the program which began with experimenting only on volunteers, but before long they were conducting testing on unsuspecting victims. Some of them sustained psychological damages from which they never recovered.

    I’ve scouted around for a decent sample of bizarre theories with at least a grain of truth-like content. Their fringe unreality can hold a certain attraction for those who don’t take the world at face value. Do any make you do a double-take on your concept of everyday reality?

    We Exist in the Matrix

    This theory is popular enough to have spawned books and that familiar series of movies we know and love. The basic theory has branched out into sub-theories as well. The essential root in modern times is that we are under the influence of a mega-computer that’s playing a show for us with multi-sensory surround sound in our minds. The believability arises from various factors, including ancient teachings that this world is all an illusion. Others are the rapid explosion of technology and artificial intelligence as well as dreams and susceptibility to how strange the world can be at times.

    Beatles Never Existed

    We were duped into believing such a phenomenon could have taken place. It’s akin to the Monkees, created and assembled for a TV series. Theory has it that John, Paul, George and Ringo were merely roles played by various actors who looked almost identical. If one looks closely at their photographs, differences in certain features can be detected. Apparently, all of that groundbreaking music had to have been created by a wide array of talented musicians who preferred to remain anonymous. That way, they wouldn’t have had to suffer the inconvenience of being chased around by hordes of screaming girls.

    Earth is Actually Hollow

    To the casual observer, it’s absurd to think the earth is hollow since we can dig thousands of feet down and keep finding solid material. Volcanoes verify the existence of molten rock within this globe. However, scientist Edmond Halley, the Halley who has the comet named after him, came up with the hollow earth theory in the 17th century because the inner magnetic fields change direction. This theory endures and has time on its side. It was bolstered by a discovery in 2014, when scientists determined there is a massive reservoir of water within the earth greater in volume than the oceans. It isn’t free floating water, but is inside ringwoodite, a rock formation that’s 435 miles beneath the outer surface of the ground.

    Bill Gates is…

    There are a number of Bill Gates conspiracy theories. Perhaps the most famous is that he is behind the Covid pandemic because he wanted to profit from vaccines that help get the spread under control. It is said he has also initiated use of vaccines to implant microchips in peoples’ bodies. He is accused of instituting a tetanus vaccine in Kenya that carries an abortion drug. He is said to have conspired with the Chinese government to create fake snow that won’t melt. Some say he is “leading a class of global elites” and others say he is “leading efforts to depopulate the world.” He has brought himself such attention for a few reasons, one being that he is rich and famous. Another is his TED talk in 2015 where he warned of the danger of a coming pandemic that would kill over 10 million people. Then there’s the fact that he and Melinda Gates have been pushing world health and put a lot of money into it for a long time, including distribution of Covid vaccines.

    America is Run by a Cabal of Satan-Worshiping Elites

    This view of the United States is promoted by the conspiracy-rich QAnon group. As you may know, it gets even more bizarre in the claim that the elites are running an underground child-trafficking ring. They are also out sabotage Donald Trump. For QAnon, these define the Deep State. These specific features are tacked on to the previously known concept that it is “a body of people, typically influential members of government agencies or the military, believed to be involved in the secret manipulation or control of government policy.” I must admit to finding the latter definition to be quite possible. I’ve been spouting a theory resembling that for years. I have not adopted the more detailed, fringe version embellished by QAnon.

    Keep Your Head

    The world is not as it seems. That’s a fair statement, right? Look for the truth behind the lies fed to us by self-serving government officials, greedy corporations, controlling organized religions and power-hungry oligarchs. But don’t let your search take you down a rabbit hole where your fall seems to never end and you’re inclined to say as Alice did, “I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards!” Keep your head on straight and right side up.