The Gong

After photographing the garden lottis of Garbatella, Calcata offered up the most picturesque photo ops one could imagine. I literally couldn't take a bad photo of the place. The narrow passageways, the twists and turns, the ups and downs that suddenly open into a vista overlooking a lush, green valley.

The town square gives the locals a place to gather and socialize late into the evening. Nothing formal, nothing scheduled. Just whoever happens to be around and feels like joining in. When no one lives more than a few minutes away, community becomes the default setting. Eventually, we became part of that setting.

Then there's the Grotto Sonora experience layered on top of all that. The range of speakers and sessions pulled us deeper into the world of sound, and inspired all of us, in our own way, to carry some of that vibrational energy back with us. Especially the gong.

Gongs are as versatile as eggs. You can bang one, stroke it, squeeze it, hug it, drum it, and dip it in water. Last night, the gong officially entered the digital age and started playing itself with the help of magnets and a computer. Gongmatic, that's what Madhava and Margherita (the couple behind Grotta Sonora) call their automatic gong-playing cave, and honestly, the name fits. Trippy, and so cool.

I have to admit, I felt restless lying there; couldn't keep my legs still; the drone of the gongs going full tilt while the whole cave vibrated like the inside of a dryer. Every itch on my body screamed out for attention until I moved to relieve it. Everyone else seemed blissed out, but my body was having its own little rebellion. Still, the whole thing was wild in the best way, part art installation, part meditation chamber, part "what the heck is happening right now." And that was just one of the experiences.

Calcata doesn't demand anything from you. It just offers itself up, the stone, the light, the valley, the people, and lets you take it in at your own pace. The retreat is almost over and I'm still letting everything settle. M & M weren't wrong when they said the Grotta Sonora experience is made by the people who show up. From all over the world, we came together around a shared curiosity and passion for sound.

So for now, I'm letting Calcata do the work: the alleys, the views, and the strange, wonderful hum of Gongmatic echoing somewhere in the background.