A Day of Sharing Song

LK Ludwig has come up with another wonderful idea - sharing songs. As the quote on LK's blog says:
"Words make you think a thought.
Music makes you feel a feeling.
A song makes you feel a thought."
E.Y. Harburg

Today I took one of my favorite CDs to yoga class and the response from my fellow classmates reminded me that I wanted to share this music. It is a CD called "All is Forgiven" by Ashana. I love all the music on it, particularly "Loving Kindness".

You can hear extracts of songs from this CD and others at Ashana's website or go to amazon if you can't access them on Ashana's website.

Visit LK's blog for links to other bloggers and their favorite music.











I must also share a recent CD I bought called "Singing for the Soul" by Jan Phillips and the Gnostic Gospel Choir. Jan and a group of women in San Diego meet once a month to sing together and this CD is to encourage us to sing together too. Jan introduced me to the music of Ashana and has a wonderful CD of her music as well which I absolutely love called "All the Way to Heaven."

Jan starts the Singing for the Soul CD with this wonderful prayer:
O Maker of the Universe, Maker of this Earth, Maker of Souls and Maker of Songs,
We thank you for the Spirit that flows among us, through us, around us and in us.
We thank you for this circle that connects us across the distance wherever we are.
We sing out in joy and adoration trusting in the power of these songs to bring light to the darkness and healing to the wounded
Acknowledging our oneness, Grateful for our blessings, Fervent in our purpose
We offer our voices in prayer for the World.

Thank you Jan for bringing more beauty into the world.

My Labyrinth

It has taken me almost a year to complete this project and I am most grateful to my husband Paul for helping me with it as I know I couldn't have done it on my own. I can't tell you why I felt this urge to have my own labyrinth. I hope to use it as a daily meditation for those days when I can't sit still long enough to go within. It will also be part of my classes as I believe in the power of the labyrinth.

When I visited Paris a number of years ago, I made a point of taking a day trip to Chatres to see the labyrinth there. I was disappointed as it was covered with chairs and there was not much information available about the labyrinth.

According to Lauren Artress, the author of The Sacred Path Companion: A Guide to Walking the Labyrinth to Heal and Transform: " A labyrinth nurtures the capacity to reflect ... To reflect upon your experiences is the only way you learn the art of being human ... Walking the labyrinth literally opens a new realm."

I'm looking forward to the new insights my labyrinth brings me.

A Day of Sharing Words

One of my favorite teachers and artists, LK Ludwig, suggested "A Day of Sharing Words" where we post of poem that "moves inside you, touches you, reaches you". What a wonderful idea. LK is always full of wonderful ideas as you will see in the latest issue of "Somerset Studio" which has an article on LK and her photo journals.

Go to LK's blog to find more poems shared:
http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com/the_poetic_eye/a-day-of-sharing-words.html

So here is my poem by Mark Nepo called "Breaking Surface":

Let no one keep you from your journey,

no rabbi or priest, no mother

who wants you to dig for treasures

she misplaced, no father

who won't let one life be enough,

no lover who measures their worth

by what you might give up,

no voice that tells you in the night

it can't be done.

Let nothing dissuade you

from seeing what you see

or feeling the winds that make you

want to dance alone

or go where no one

has yet to go.

You are the only explorer.

Your heart, the unreadable compass.

Your soul, the shore of a promise

too great to be ignored.

Mark's website is http://www.marknepo.com/ and you can find more of his wonderful poetry there.

LK also suggested we post an image and this photo I took in Brevard NC a couple of summers ago surfaced in my mind as I was typing out the poem:

Enrichment

It has been a while since I have posted, but last night I picked up the book "Silence, Song and Shadows" by Tom Bender and the page I read was so meaningful to me that I thought it would be good to include in my blog, for no other reason other that it will be a way for me to remember what I read. With the current economics it seemed like a good time for this reminder:

"All economics, and all cultures and communities derive from distinctive assertions of value. If the values chosen reflect consumption, greed, and violence, they create a far different world than if those values derive from the sacred. E.F. Schumacher, in his path-breaking "Buddhist Economics" remarked on the characteristic kind of economics which arise from the values of Buddhism - on the role and importance of enriching work, of obtaining the maximum well-being from minimum consumption, and of the importance of non-attachment to wealth. He has shown also its effectiveness in creating successful life, culture, and tools.

Reestablishing a value base to our communities involves discovery of the real meaning of a whole range of sustainable values tied to the sacred. Austerity, for example, is important. It does not, as we might think, exclude richness or enjoyment. What it does do is help us be aware of things which distract us from our real goals in life.

When we understand austerity, we see that affluence has a great hidden cost. Its endless possibilities demand impossible commitments of time and energy. It fails to discriminate between what is wise and useful and what is merely possible. We end up foregoing things necessary for a truly satisfying life to make time and space for trivia. As we relearn the value of austerity, along with stewardship, permanence, responsibility, enoughness, work, and interdependence, we create a new and enduring kind of community."

The shades of green and play of light on this leaf are so beautiful, but often there is too much going on for me to notice things like this when I am in the garden. I am grateful to have a camera that allows me to isolate these spots of beauty and to reflect on them. I think this is the austerity that is referred to by Tom Bender - austerity that focuses us on the wonder and beauty in the simple.

Sensual Journal project

I'm part of a sensual journal project organized by Deb Denton. Deb gave us the challenge that four of the five senses needed to be represented in the journal pages we did - even more difficult than it sounds. This month I worked in Sheila Scott's journal. Her great theme was "Get out there - it's a great big world". This is the cover of Sheila's box that houses our contributions.

Of course my journal entries are all about Africa - a place close to my heart. Here are some of my pages.

Celebrate What's Right with the World

This link was shared with me by my photographer buddy, Bill Elder, who has been so generous with his knowledge of photography with me over the years.



Dewitt Jones is a National Geographic photographer, and his enthusiasm for the beauty around us and the call to look deeper for the meaning in the world was just what I needed as I put together a presentation on my trip to visit organizations dealing with the Aids pandemic in South Africa.

Back from South Africa

I'm back from my three week trip to South Africa. It was an intense trip and I'm still trying to process everything I saw and experienced. Sometimes I find I need to withdraw from an experience for a while afterwards before I can see it in the right perspective. So I'll share more about my experiences at a later date.

I did stay at the Buddhist Retreat Center in Ixopo while I was spending time with Woza Moya, and it was the perfect place to be as it allowed me to regroup every day in a peaceful and meditative space.

This was the early morning view from my bedroom ... the mist rising from the valley ....

The last week of my trip was spent in an area I was unfamiliar with and it was an intense experience. My surroundings were quite different, and this is where I slept!