On Monday evening my wife Mandy and I returned home from our 882 mile road-trip to and from the 2012 Brain Gym International Conference at Colorado State University where I delivered a keynote on Healing at the Speed of Sound®. It was a fantastic event with people interested in promoting brain integration from all corners of the globe. There are many memories including a last-minute mishap on my part which left me running onto the stage from across campus at the precise moment my talk was to begin! More importantly, we made many special connections with the attendees, some on a deeply personal level. I was touched by several people and experiences over the course of the event, but there is one experience in particular I’ll share that will always stay with me.
In the small vendor area my company Advanced Brain Technologies was demonstrating our music as was another company in our industry. On Saturday there was an 11-year-old boy who repeatedly went back and forth between our booths putting on headphones to listen intently to the music each offered. That evening his mother relayed what was happening to us.
Her son was listening to see how the music made him feel so that he could decide which he wanted to use. When he made his choice he told his mother, pulled out his wallet, and counted out $63 to put toward a pair of nice headphones and a Relaxation CD which cost closer to $100. I asked his mom to bring her son back to our booth the next afternoon to see what we could work out.
When they arrived the next day this boy took out his wallet and counted out his cash. When I asked him how he obtained the money he relayed the numerous odd jobs he did over the course of the summer to earn it. He knew exactly what he had to do to earn each one, five, ten, and twenty. As he shared this I recalled how hard I worked when I was 12 doing similar laborious tasks to pay for a $50 Santa Cruz “Jammer” skateboard I had on lay away at a local surf-shop. But it wasn’t a skateboard he wanted, after a summer’s work he decided to put his hard-earned dollars toward relaxing music and headphones to experience it through. Although he did not have enough money, we came to an understanding in which he left with the headphones, his CD, one for his mom, and a few bucks left in his wallet.
As I observed him over the course of Sunday afternoon he was in a quiet place, headphones on, music playing. He had a look of absolute bliss on his face. It touched me deeply to see this child connect with our music. It was an affirmation of the healing power of sound, and a touching reminder of the inherent wisdom of children.
