(not necessarily in that order)
Yay! Inner Renewal Retreat 2024 starts tomorrow morning and goes through Thursday, February 22nd.
Featuring Jyotish and Devi, it’s one of the highlights of the year throughout the world of Ananda.
And for the first time ever, it’s being offered completely free of charge. So, check it out and register to attend online (that way you’ll have access to all the recordings even if you can’t make it in real time).
Of course, there’s music at the beginning of every class, so we’ll be there for sure. 😊🎶
Hard to believe that — almost exactly two months from today — we’ll be in Lugano once again.
On the one hand, I can’t wait. On the other hand, I can’t believe how the last six months or so have flown by!
And for sure, time is only going to speed up between now and our departure date.
Tonight we watched Maria by Callas: In Her Own Words, a documentary about the legendary soprano told through interviews, home movies, private letters, and unpublished memoirs.
And her performances, of course.
But — my goodness! — what performances! It’s embarrassing to admit that, although I’ve known of her, I really didn’t have a clue who Maria Callas was. Watching the movie was truly a revelation.
Her voice, her artistry, her expressivity, her incredible magnetism…words fail me. Watch the video above and experience it for yourself.
I am now her forever fan.
We’re working with Crystal Clarity Publishers on an upcoming project and needed some detailed information about the “Joy Is God” recording that we did in Ananda Assisi back in 2005.
Our memories were fuzzy so I had to search and search until I found a copy of the CD with the original liner notes (it’s changed several times since it first came out). And what a find!
We were ensconced for two days in Swami Kriyananda’s home near the Assisi retreat center (he was in India). Our recording engineer drove down from Lugano in a van containing his mobile recording studio, which he parked outside Swamiji’s house.
The musicians were from Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and America — all of them dear friends and great devotees. I wish we could have remained close to all of them, but almost twenty years have passed and it’s not easy to stay connected when you lead busy lives on separate continents.
What I love most of all is this shot of Ramesha and me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen myself looking happier than in this photo.
Joy is God, indeed!
We don’t really go all in on the Valentine’s Day hoopla. When possible we make sure to eat dinner together, ending with some sort of heart-shaped dessert (usually cookies), and that’s about it.
Mainly it’s a day when I find myself thinking a lot about love; most especially how fortunate I am to love, and be loved by, so many wonderful people.
My husband; my family; his family; friends from school (junior high through conservatory); friends who were professional colleagues; spiritual family from around the world; and on and on it goes.
So, what Valentine’s Day means to me is simply LOVE.
During both Village Choir and Ensemble rehearsals tonight there were moments that absolutely captured the meaning of this quote.
The wonderful thing is that the “first breath” happens with each song…and each time you restart a song that you’re working on.
So, we get to tune in again and again to that focus, intention, and emotion. We get to feel, over and over again, our unified energies as we create an ever-new expression of our beautiful music.
What joy.
I really, really, REALLY need to remember this.
Every. Single. Day.
Lately I’ve been trying to get out and walk more, without much success.
But this evening I finally did it and was treated to these scenes of astral beauty featuring the new moon.
It definitely felt like my reward for following through on my commitment to myself.
Today I tackled a project that’s been eating away at me for months: the clearing out of a section of our staircase (AKA our “storage” area).
It was only one corner, but crammed with stuff that has been accumulating for close to five years. Not only was I able to establish some order to the shelves — light bulbs on one shelf; tools on their designated shelf; etc. — but I actually went through all the various containers and discarded lots of items that I know we’ll never use again.
But the worst thing? Well, you know when you assemble a piece of furniture and there are leftover bits (Allen wrenches, screws, nuts and bolts, etc.)? We had tons of those!
You hate to throw them out because — maybe, just maybe — they might come in handy sometime. But they NEVER DO (come in handy, I mean). They just accumulate.
So, between those bits and pieces, and a few other oddities, I have two grocery bags full of stuff to take to the free box.
Hope springs eternal that someone will be able to make use of this stuff!
I can’t believe it’s been over four years since the last time we watched the Sound of Music!
Once again the impetus came from discovering that a key music ministry friend had never seen it, but we’re always happy to find an excuse to view this movie regardless.
I certainly won’t wait another four years to see it again.