i have this friend. his name's dermot, which of course means he's irish! and a lovely one at that. he's studying at the music school here in leuven. we met on the very first day i arrived in town, when i was still very sleepy and confused from 37 hours in travel mode.

last night i finally got to hear dermot play the piano. the piano.

now, i know a thing or two about the piano. i myself played it for 7 years, members of my family have, and still do, play... but when dermot played last night, i was swept up into a world i have never been to before.

he played, not with music, but with his heart. i have never heard a piano be played in such a way. i felt like i was inside each note that sounded. and all i could do was shut my eyes and let it all soak into and through me.

one of the pieces, i later was told, he had created himself... at one point, he was joined by another guy who played a bass jazz type rhythm and dermot just started playing melodies - completely ad lib and free, in a way i have never seen or heard or experienced before.

it blew my mind and has left me refreshed. if there could ever be such a thing as musical cleansing, i have just come up from total immersion.

thank you dermot.