Response to an excerpt from The Names: A Memoir, by N. Scott Momaday

"THE NAMES AT FIRST are those of animals and of birds, of objects that have one definition in the eye, another in the hand, of forms and features on the rim of the world, or of sounds that carry on the bright wind and in the void."

We believe one thing to be just that. However, once we are able to feel that thing, physically and emotionally, we begin to realize that it is not just one but many.

This past Sunday, the 25th of January, I went to see a concert performed by the Choir of the West from Pacific Lutheran University. What I saw on the choir singers' faces was extraordinary. As a singer, I always believed that one piece of music is made to convey only one single idea or thought. However, as I sat in the audience and watched the choir perform, I noticed that not everyone had the same facial expression. Each individual interpreted the piece of music differently, but as a whole choir, they captured the essence and feel of the entire piece. Before seeing the choir concert on Sunday, I always thought that everyone in a choir should be expressing one single feeling when singing. I now realize that music and language is felt differently from each individual, but no matter how dynamic the feelings are from one another, they are all still related and connected in some way.

The other phrase I really like from this excerpt is:

"There seems a stillness at noon, but that is illusion: the landscape rises and falls, ringing."

This is a reflection of any living thing, but especially of human beings. As humans, we are able to put on an entire show of how we feel or what we are thinking through our facial expressions. Sometimes though, our expressions are not particularly related to how we actually feel inside. It is like that overused phrase about someone putting a smile on, but inside they are completely torn. Even when a person has a blank face on, that does not mean he or she is blank and dull inside. There are emotions that they either do not want to show or do not know how to show.