A New Beginning

Gaia brings us everything we need.

It doesn’t happen here in Santa Barbara all that much. And most of the time when it does, it’s not really much to write home about.

So I haven’t really given it much thought lately.

But it’s raining here. Not just a wee bit, but a bunch, and for the last three days … so far.

Not a drenching rain. Not a get-your-clothes-and-your-next-meal-in-the-car kind of rain.

Just steady.

Sometimes more, sometimes less. Never really able to build into a compelling, inescapable rhythm on the rooftop. But so much needed.

So while taking it all in, I wanted to paint it in sound. Something gentle, tentative.

Another work in my Respite mini-series that I hope will become a quick and easy go-to that will serve you in this season of emptying, of cleansing.

I’ve titled it: A New Beginning

Enjoy!

---

Title: A New Beginning
Run Time: 13:39

---

A Few Notes

I’d love to know what this new title brings to you.

The spiritual imagery of rain takes many forms, just as the rain itself brings so much life back to Mother Earth.

Rain: the sound of release

Soft, diffuse, non-directional—rain mirrors what emotional release feels like. It is steady but gentle, porous rather than forceful. Spiritually, that quality signals that the world is letting go without violence.

For many people, rain provides permission to exhale something they’ve been holding.

---

Rain: a boundary crossed

When clouds release rain, they shift state—from holding to yielding. And that shift mirrors exactly what happens when we step out of our psychological or spiritual bindings.

It brings focus to that threshold moment between tension and release. Between clinging and surrender. And between our past, and the promise of renewal.

Across cultures, across wisdom paths … rain is that touchstone moment when the world moves from waiting to becoming.

Rain is release. Rain is surrender.
I hope the rain brings you everything you need.

Peace.
James Anthony

---

PS -

For anyone interested in how the elements of music combine to make a glorious whole, I’m a course on Parametric Music Composition.

It’s a gentle, theory-light, and tool-agnostic way to approach composing music.

We’ll discover ways to look at the fundamental elements of music, both one at a time, and then in increasing combination.

Elements including, but not limited to: pitch, rhythm, dynamics, articulation, timbre, and texture.

I’d like to gather some more information bout your course preferences, so that it better meets your needs.

If you’d fill out this brief survey, that would help immensely (time to complete <5 min)!

In the future, for more information, and regular course updates … please visit the “Making” tab on my Substack page: