Finding the Rhythm

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“When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused.” – Rainier Maria Rilke

On my first mountain climbing attempt, a guided climb of Mt. Rainier in the summer of 1998, the lead guide introduced us to the poetry of Robert Service. Whether you or not you like his poetry, he delivers a cadence that I found helpful in keeping a climbing rhythm:

“There’s a race of man who won’t give in
A race that can’t stand still.
So they break the heart of kith and kin
And roam the world at will.”

The Men Who Don’t Fit In by Robert Service

Climbing depends on a steady pace. If you go too fast when roped to your teammates, you create too much slack ahead, and end up pulling the climber behind. If you go too slow, you create drag on someone else. When climbs would get tough, I’d recite the poems in my head and it would regulate my head, heart, and feet.

Thought I don’t climb any more, I still find evidence of pacing in all of the rest of my life. At work, knowing the cadence of team meetings helps to know when we can address issues. At home, rhythm is such a large part of how my little family stays stable. The waking up, eating breakfast, packing lunches, off to school rhythm is the cornerstone of our weekdays. When we get out of sync, it’s like a band that’s lost the beat.

Miss O recently learned to play Ode to Joy on the piano. When feeling like she wants to show off her mastery, she plays it somewhere between double and triple time. Played like that, it quickly becomes Ode to Indigestion.

I’m thinking of all these examples of rhythm and cadence because of an incredible podcast conversation that Vicki and I had with Edgerton award winning playwright, Jack Canfora. As a playwright and trained Shakespearean actor, he thinks a lot about cadence in writing. But for him, it extends beyond the theater. It applies to humor writing and essays as well.

Jack describes himself as a rhythmic writer. I’m thinking of You Make a Mean Salad as an example of his writing and humor. Or perhaps it’s best heard in a play. Step 9 is available as a theatrical podcast.

Thinking of my own writing as someone who tends to extended sentences, I have a lot to learn about calibrating sentences from Jack. Here’s a clip from our podcast where he talks about how Shakespeare balances sentences.

If you’re in the mood for a podcast, listen to this one. It’s got a great rhythm: Episode 56: Master Class In Creativity with Jack Canfora – Part II or search for Sharing the Heart of the Matter on Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify or Pocketcasts.

Links for this Podcast episode:

Jack’s website: Jack Canfora | Playwright | Podcaster | Writing Coach

Jack’s Online Theater Company: New Normal Rep

Jericho by Jack Canfora on Amazon

Jack Canfora on Instagram and Twitter: @jackcanfora

Other podcast episodes featuring Jack:

Episode 4: Why Theater Matters

Episode 55: Master Class in Creativity with Jack Canfora – Part I

From the hosts:

Vicki’s personal blog: Victoria Ponders

Wynne’s personal blog: Surprised by Joy

Vicki’s recently released book: Surviving Sue

Wynne’s book about her beloved father: Finding My Father’s Faith

(featured photo from Pexels)

25 thoughts on “Finding the Rhythm”

  1. The expert advice from your guest’s podcast is much appreciated. Winnowing and refining and balancing, like a sculptor chiseling, is what those who write must do unless they, like Mozart, can get it right the first time. Thanks, Wynne.

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  2. In high school there was a piano in the choir room. Before class one student would play Fur Elise at breakneck speed. I know this “Ode to Indigestion” you speak of! I like the thought of cadence. It’s easy to rush things rather than let them fall into place.

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    1. Oh, I’m laughing Rebecca. Isn’t it funny how much it matters when it’s rushed. I want to encourage practicing but yipes, it’s a lot to keep my mouth shut sometimes… 🙂

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  3. We played Bach’s “Air on the G String” when I was in high school orchestra. It was so dreadfully slow that the pace just about did me in. I wish we’d have rebelled and played it faster, just once. Your daughter is a smart one!

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  5. It’s funny that you mentioned Ode to Joy and Ode to Indigestion because I find that I’m horrible about thinking about cadence until I think more musically. It stops me from rushing and helps me to let the story breathe and see how it plays on the page. Great discussion, great point by Jack!!!

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  9. This is such an important reminder. We’re often in such a hurry to get things done, we don’t even consider what the right rhythm might be for the task, but pacing is so important across so many realms.

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  11. Life’s everyday rhythms…I like that. I was just telling Tara, sad as it is that another weekend has flown by, I really do enjoy the different pace of weekdays. (I think what I actually said was, I love every single day that I’m alive. Would you expect anything less from Mr. Optimist though?)

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  12. Yay, another climbing story! It’s so true how important it is to tap into your personal rhythm and of that on group settings too. At work meetings, I call it reading the room – and it goes such a long way in being able to push through an issue or building consensus.

    At home is always trickier I find especially when we are dealing with little ones still trying to find their own cadence. But sounds like Miss O is finding musically creative ways to do so$

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    1. Oh boy do I recognize the little ones trying to find their own cadence. Yes, sometimes that gets me off my own rhythm for sure! And reading the room – spot on for that observation. Thanks, Ab!

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  13. This quote is so beautiful, maybe that is why I love the southern Texas beaches – “When anxious, uneasy and bad thoughts come, I go to the sea, and the sea drowns them out with its great wide sounds, cleanses me with its noise, and imposes a rhythm upon everything in me that is bewildered and confused.”

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