I had an experience I am calling Food Singing Intimacy and shortly you will know why. While I was out running some errands one day, the smell of pizza wafted out of the door next to the store I was shopping in. Hmmm, I said to myself… The smell was making me hungry, was it  Lunchtime?

Grabbing a slice of Pizza is quick and I never eat it at home so in I followed my nose to the Pizza Parlor. I placed my order and waited for my food. The place was empty except for a man sitting alone at table around a corner. I could not see his face because there was a wall between us. It noticed him, but not in any particular way, he was just there. I was content to enjoy the wonderful smells, and anticipate the taste of my pizza.

So here we were, two strangers in an almost empty pizza parlor, waiting for our food, when the beginning of the song “That’s Amore” began to play. As I sat there I heard the beautiful voice of Dean Martin come out of the stereo speaker above my table. I know this song well not just because I’m Italian, but also because I’ve watched the movie Moonstruck at least 400 times. When I hear a song that moves me, I’m one of those people that will sing anywhere, regardless vocal abilities… but I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t. Then this beautiful voice pipes in and starts singing, loudly, no holding back,”whena da mooon hits you eye like a big a Pizza pie, dats amore”. And that was it!! His singing gave me permission to sing, granted by proxy!!

Freed of all fear of convention, I pipe in .This stranger, sitting alone at a table, behind a wall, sang with this big opera style voice! His voice filled the small room we were in, bringing tears to my eyes as I did my best to hold a tune.

My body is awash in a feeling of LOVE. The love of singing, the love of cool old songs and movies, the love of two voices rising together as they sing of love. The vibration in that place was so harmonious that no other word suffices. Just as we finished our song the spouse of the man who was singing walks out of the restroom and back to their table. For her, it was totally normal to hear her hubby belting out a tune, by himself or with whomever would pipe in, you could tell that by the smile on her face as she sat down. My singing friend poked his head around the corner; we toasted our beers, said thanks to one another and proceeded to eat our lunch.

I was happy I stopped in there and enjoyed the experience of harmony .I was struck by how intensely contrasting my experience was so different as to how much of the world gets along… When people are at music concerts or churches singing about love, kindness or harmony do they have that same experience? Do they feel the oneness, are they uplifted?

As a licensed message therapist, I always want to do a good job for my clients. I want to help them with pain relief, to feel heard when they are stressed or to help them have peace and quiet when they need quiet. When the massage is over they are usually happy and relaxed and so am I. Yet, on occasion my skill level reaches something hard to put into words. I feel so euphoric, knowing my client and I have just had an amazing experience.

Our energies have surrendered to each other, blended, floated as we recognized each other’s divinity; when that happens I become more intuitive to their needs and my hands find tight or painful areas and without a word being spoken, I massage their pain away. It is not something I can explain, and it does not happen every time I give a massage. It’s more serendipitous. I would love to say I know how to do reproduce this at will. Sometimes I even pray for it, ask God to please guide me. That’s not how it works, it is purely random, and it does not let me choose with whom it will occur. It might never happen with some one that I am so connected to years after working with them. It sometimes happens the very first time I work on a person. Even when it does happen, this magical experience can be with a client that I may never work on again.

I will probably never run into the couple from the pizza place again, but I’ll never forget they joy of knowing them for that short human moment in time. I hope you feel the love in your life…it’s always around like a radio station to be tuned into.

Valentina Boonstra