But first, an update. My starting group, the 15 dear people who've joined me on this singing journey, met weekly in Mudtown Pottery, a beautiful gallery space with great accoustics, above a pottery studio. On Dec/ 20th we gave a small concert to invited guests, and raised some money for Safe 'n Sound, an organization serving the homeless in Owen Sound. On the whole, it was a very successful evening. We all enjoyed ourselves and laughed a lot. A great aspect of this kind of music is that it lends itself to audience participation, and the audience seemed to delight in singing along with three pieces: Dona Nobis Pacem, the Contemplation Chant, and Light is Returning (a Solstice song).
Now it's 2011 and because of the unpredictability of the winter weather here, we meet casually at my house on Monday evenings. I sometimes have ginger tea and honey on the stove. There are a few new faces joining us and I have faith that the group will grow.
A new development is our Sunday Meditation and Singing group. We spend half an hour learning a few of the simpler and more introspective songs, then meditate for 15 minutes. Then we sing for half an hour, repetitively and without any conversation... the minute of silence between each song is powerful... then end with mediation. Our first meeting was so emotional for me that I phoned one of the CCLT teachers for suggestions on how to ground and prepare the group to go back to real life. Denis suggested that I use poetry, and directed me to John O'Donahue... and thus begins another beautiful trail...
"May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul."
