Poems, Prayers & Promises (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well, it seems that no one is viewing this blog. So how can I make it more public?

I have been going retro – listening to John Denver. There are some amazing lyrics in his songs. And I’m singing them in Paris! Paris – open your door to the Spirit!

Well, it was back in the mid-’70’s when I was attending Andrew Jackson High School in Chalmette, Louisiana. I had a guitar, and so did my friend, Shelly Galliano. Perhaps I have misspelled her name, but we were into John Denver’s music and it was a good time. I had never seen him ‘live’ and I doubt that she had either. However, his music was therapy for our teenage years. Back then I had always let myself be carried by the tunes and lyrics. Here are a few of the lyrics from one of my favorites;

Poems, Prayers & Promises

“And talk of poems, and prayers, and promises

And things that we believe in:

How sweet it is to Love someone,

How right it is to care.

How long it’s been since yesterday,

What about tomorrow?

And what about our dreams,

And all the memories we share?”

These lines have been in imbedded in my heart since 14 or 15. Coming back to them is like coming back home, in my heart…

More John Denver perhaps in the next entry…

Luv and Blessings!

Bonjour from Paris!

It is Summer. Paris is partly sunny. Enjoying the roses from my garden.

In the meantime i have to compose a piece for my Contemplative Musicianship Course. It is a song with melody and lyrics. I tried it on the harp, but it seems to like the piano instead. Perhaps it is only in the composing that the piano works, yes! it does give clarity…I am wondering what kind of song it is – but I know the answer already. It is a Luv Song…of sorts.

Since I had to spend a day in silence, I call it “A Day of Silence”. Fine. But a few moments ago I found a quote of text from Henri J. Nouwen that matches my efforts for songwriting…

“Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning,

That without listening  speaking no longer heals,

That without distance  closeness cannot cure.”

 

I am glad that i ran across this quote in a blog. I am amazed by the exactness of it. Yes, Silence opens up the door to all sorts of good things for us.

So tell your luv’d ones that you luv them, but remember, a quiet time alone heightens the beauty and sharpens the poignancy of being together.

Dear Friends,

Singing is for the Body and Soul, Heart and Mind. A Singer is an Artist who cares about all of this. My Song in Paris is about Life of the Human Being…what song do I sing then?

Maybe like Andrew Lang, I sing a song from deep within;

Andrew Lang: From Song by the Subconscious Self

“I know not what my secret is,

I know but it is mine.

I know to dwell with it were bliss,

To die for it divine.

I cannot yield it in a kiss,

Nor breathe it in a sigh;

Enough that I have lived for this,

For this, my love, I die.”

or perhaps there is another poet who expressed it as well;

J. Krishnamurti: from The Song of Life

VII

“Love Life.

Neither the beginning nor the end

Knows whence it comes.

For it has no beginning and no end.

Life is.”

These poets knew something about living and loving.

Singing, for me, is about living and loving. It is about living anywhere and finding a way to love your own Life. Paris has been a desert for me. I get lost amidst the noise and cacophony of the Big City. So I stay in my quiet oasis of a home, and live, singing my song…

I have sung all my life; in school, for the Girl Scouts, for Church, for Prayer Group. I do not have a diploma, but do have years of training with just singing. There were Christmas Carols all through the holidays; hymns, and folk songs, and John Denver in High School. There was Andrew Jackson High School Chorus. I had my first private lessons during my studies at University, but they were extra-curricula. Then I did not sing for along time. It all fell asleep.

Having my son in 1989 awoke a new hunger in me to sing. I sang many Lullabies, on those evenings while sitting next to his bed. It was the beginning of something new. It became more than a pass time…In the early ’90’s I worked with a private teacher to learn electric keyboard, shyly acknowledging my vocal talent. Next came the decision to take voice lessons and with that, another teacher. I spent many years working with her and her student association.

Now I am enrolled in a formal course, Contemplative Musicianship, given by the Chalice of Repose Project. The class just finished the second Intensive Residency in Oregon. For the first time I sang for an audience while playing a harp. It was a wonderful experience – there is nothing like the sounds and vibrations of a harp to accompany a singer. It was magic!

William Blake: SONG

“Love and harmony combine,

And around our souls intwine,

While thy branches mix with mine,

And our roots together join.”

Here we are at the end of the week. ‘A Song In Paris‘ is singing in my head, and heart, … so it’s time to get back to the posting page!

Blake is so wonderful – of course this poem is about Birdsong and Luv among the branches… chirp-chirp! … but couldn’t we apply it to our human life as well? Isn’t Luv an ‘intwine-ment’? Human Souls are like trees, roots growing together, which we do not see because they are underground, like the Collective Unconscious. Hidden. However the amazing growth network of roots and their interconnection are present, enlivening and quickening living matter…so too is the unconscious stream of soul energy that we hardly ever see evidence of, but feel nevertheless, so can trust.

Another quote to do with song;

“O we can wait no longer,

We too take ship O soul

Joyous we too launch out on trackless seas,

Fearless for unknown shores on waves of ecstasy to sail,

Amid the wafting winds, (thou pressing me to thee, I thee to me,

O soul,)

Caroling free, singing our song of God,

Chanting our chant of pleasant exploration.”

Walt Whitman, from Passage to India

Soon I’ll be on my way to the next Intensive Residency for Contemplative Musicianship. Very likely I will not be able to post next week. But who knows? We’ll be singing and perfecting our songs, it just might spill over into another mystical song…in the world…