international – Music. Life. Joy.

September 16, 2021

Vacation thoughts

One’s approach to taking a vacation is different when you and your spouse hail from different continents.

Starting in 2004, at least 90% of our “vacations” have been international flights to visit family and friends. And of course, between the long flight and time spent trying to see everybody, those trips usually aren’t all that relaxing,

The other 10% of our vacations have been occasional jaunts, usually after an especially intense period of work or activity. Like the 3-4 nights in Ashland after the Oratorio one year.

The longest purely vacation time we’ve ever spent was 5 nights in Rimini (Italy) in 2005 — no commitments, no obligations, no people we had to see. Of course, it was super crowded but still relaxing.

Since we weren’t able to go to Europe again this year, we’ve known we needed to schedule in a real break of some sort, but week after week was passing by without us making any decisions. Until we realized that if we didn’t book something immediately the holiday season would be upon us and we would miss our window of opportunity!

So, I’m happy to report that after much searching, we found what looks like a lovely and surprisingly affordable spot in Santa Barbara, where we’ll spend 5 nights next month. And now that it’s booked we can’t wait to go!

May 21, 2021

More about the concert

There were many, many wonderful things about Wednesday night’s concert.

First and foremost, for me personally, is that it was the first time since last December that we could actually sing in the Temple of Light! Che gioia!

Another thing that made it special was collaborating with a team of young people from our Expanding Light Ashram. We worked together on planning the program, plus they wrapped their auras around many of the technical and promotional aspects. Yay, team!

Every program we’ve put on since the beginning of the pandemic has been a “first,” as each event had to be adjusted for ever-changing circumstances. On this concert for the first time we combined live performers in the Temple of Light, live performers in other locations around the world, and pre-recorded videos. It definitely kept our sound and video team on their toes!

Finally, I want to highlight a couple of special moments during the evening. Throughout this program I was much more aware of challenging global realities; much more so than during previous “worldwide” concerts that we’ve produced.

I was especially moved when our dear friend in Tel Aviv sang:
Lightly I fly when I live in laughter,
Lightly I fly when my heart sings.
Fling to the ground every heavy burden.
Now I can soar up above the clouds!
It was even more touching when her close spiritual friends in California joined her via the magic of video!

Then there were our friends in Mumbai. They were dealing with the double challenges of COVID and a cyclone, but that didn’t stop them from joining us live (at 8:30 in the morning their time!) to celebrate Swamiji.

As an appreciative friend/audience member put it: “I love our international concerts… Swamiji wanted us to join together around the world, and you have all made it so.”

November 11, 2019

Living for God

I really love this photo, which appeared on the Ananda Worldwide Facebook page the other day. For one thing, the photographer beautifully captured the deep devotion of these great souls, each of whom I happen to know and love.

It also strikes me as both sweet and powerful to realize just how much of the world is represented in this photo, as these individuals are from New Zealand, the United States, and India.

And that got me to thinking (not for the first time!) of just how international my spiritual family is! At Ananda Village alone we have members who are originally from Argentina, Canada, Colombia, England, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Laos, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. And that’s just off the top of my head, so I may have missed somebody.

But it’s not just that our community is filled with a wide diversity of people from so many points of the globe. It’s that all these people are dedicated to a spiritual lifestyle based on joy and harmony, consciously choosing a life lived for God. It’s amazing, really!

September 24, 2019

International Village choir

NOW we’re officially back. Tonight was our first full choir rehearsal, and what a great rehearsal it was! Part of the wonderfulness is due to an influx of great souls in young (or at least young-ish) bodies who are adding a lot of fresh energy into the mix.

Since we had to leave town soon after these newbies started coming, we decided to join them for tea in the Expanding Light dining room after rehearsal tonight in order to get to know them all a little better.

Looking at the photos I took, it strikes me just how international of a group it is; we are truly evolving into a World Brotherhood Choir right here at Ananda Village. Hari bol!