I know, I know…! But I just couldn’t resist! 😂
Deck the Halls (2020 style)
One united ray
The Christmas concert was beautiful and also extremely well-received. There were many high points, but the highest high point for me is still the virtual choir singing The Christmas Mystery.
I’m not yet able to share just this one song with you, but as I looked at the radiant faces of all the singers, I was struck once again by how very global and yet united we are as a spiritual family.
And that gave me the idea to simply list (to the best of my knowledge) where each person lives currently, as well as their country of origin (if it’s different). Not sure I got everyone right, but most of them. And it was fun!
India, Italy (born in Germany), California, California, India, New Zealand, Colorado, Italy, California, Hawaii, Italy, Israel, California, California, Italy, India, California (born in India), India, India, California, Texas, California, Texas, California, India, California, California, Missouri, India, Florida, India, India (born in California), California, India (born in Japan), California, California (born in Africa), California, India, India, California, California (born in Turkey), Hawaii, California (born in India), California, California, California, India, California, California, California, Texas, Washington, Oregon, California, California, California, India, California, California
So very diverse and yet all of us drawn together by our love for God and Guru. 🙏
Feeding two birds with one seed
We wanted to create a beautiful ambiance for Ramesha’s holiday kirtan, so this afternoon we pushed ourselves to finish decorating the tree; rearrange the furniture; and establish order in the living room.
End result? The kirtan was as beautiful visually as it was musically AND our home is finally looking like Christmas is less than a week away!
By the way, isn’t that quite an impressive set-up? Getting a good quality livestream is way more involved than one would think. Luckily I don’t have to understand the technology in order to be of assistance; my job was to monitor the comments and answer any questions that came up! 😊
Christmas bells are ringing
I just learned about something that sounds really fantastic! This is from the article my friend sent me…
“The Worldwide Christmas Eve Jingle is a simple idea that started with one woman in a small town in England and has since spread across the Earth. On Christmas Eve, at 6 p.m. (your local time), families around the world will stand on their front steps and simply ring a bell. Organizers are hoping that the sounds on that still winter night will travel all the way to the North Pole to help guide Santa on his way. But more than that, the sound will lift the hearts of those near and far who are doing their best to keep the Christmas spirit alive in these very challenging times.”
Now, doesn’t that sound lovely?!? I’m definitely going to spread the word here at the Village, as well as to friends and family and other Ananda communities.
A psychologist commented on how an event such as this can give people who feel isolated a chance to connect. I’m also enjoying the inspiring comments that I’ve been reading in a number of articles about it from around the world. Such as…
“We all need it, it’s been a very very long year and a lot of hardships for a lot of people and we’d like to sort of celebrate the end of the year with the bells.”
One organizer expressed her hope that the sound of her bells this Christmas Eve will make others around her feel less alone. “They might hear those bells and have a little joy,” she said.
The original Facebook group for the campaign, created in late October, has more than 434,000 members.
Let’s celebrate the light together!
In yesterday’s blog post I talked about our upcoming Christmas concert, but I didn’t mention any specifics!
So, here’s the scoop: the concert “premiere” will be Sunday, December 20 at 6:00 pm (Pacific time). All the pertinent information , including the link, can be found at www.ananda.org/christmas.
Plus you can check out the other inspiring events which are listed there as well.
And of course I want to mention yet another wonderful event (which isn’t listed on the Ananda website): Ramesha’s LIVE Kirtan Concert!
He invites you to join him for devotional chanting and short periods of meditation that will help you open your heart to the deep blessings of the Christmas season. It’s happening this Saturday, December 19 at 5:00 pm (Pacific time) on Ramesha’s Facebook page.
Here’s to a glorious, inspired, heartfelt, joyous, uplifting, fun, beautiful Christmas (take that COVID-19)! ✨
It’s a wrap
It still feels very strange to be “done” with my part of the Christmas concert four days before its “premiere.”
Of course, most of the performances were “done” a little over a week ago.
It’s just such a contrast to all my deeply embedded concepts of what it means to perform — especially at Christmas time — as preparations intensify the closer you get to The Big Day. And then the big sigh of relief/release when it’s over.
I find it interesting that I feel almost the same range of feelings afterwards — relief, tiredness, excitement, and so forth — whether it’s “virtual” or “real.”
The fact is that tons of energy still goes out when it’s virtual, maybe even more in some ways.
Christmas is coming
Lots of crazy rushing around today (deadlines, deadlines!), including preparing for tonight’s Christmas Zoom Sing-Along.
We’ve all been craving singing together, so tonight we did the next best thing, by coming together virtually to sing a bunch of choir favorites — traditional carols, the Hallelujah Chorus, some Oratorio choir pieces, and — of course — all of Swamiji’s original Christmas songs.
Predictably, even as tired and frazzled as I was, the music lifted me up and softened my edges and helped me (finally!) start to feel like Christmas really is coming!
The overwhelm is officially underway
So much so that this is all I have time for tonight.
Coping with the pandemic via music
Wait for it… wait for it….
BAM!
Oh my goodness, I love everything about this so much. 😂
Stuff
Much of today involved dealing with stuff (especially papers), arguably my least favorite pastime.
Now I’m feeling tired and a little cranky, so I think I’ll keep this short in favor of doing my utmost to get to bed early (the good news is I’ve actually been making positive progress in this direction).