Tonight is not — I repeat, not — the night to stay up into the wee hours.
We’re already losing an hour due to Daylight Savings, which means getting to rehearsal at 8:45am will feel like 7:45am.
Groan.
Must…go…to bed!
A full day
Today was full in a way we haven’t done in quite some time.
We started off first thing this morning with a Sangha meeting (our Ananda outreach ministries version of a monthly staff meeting, which we attended while in Sacramento via Zoom), followed by a few minutes to answer emails before packing up and checking out of the hotel.
Then it was off to my bone marrow transplant follow-up appointment, after which I stopped to get blood drawn for labs.
Then we drove home, where I spent a fair amount of time researching and then scheduling my COVID vaccine “re-do” (it’s not so easy to find primary doses any more, as opposed to boosters).
And, finally, our quartet ran through the entire program for our upcoming Christmas concert.
Everything about the day was lovely, productive, and fun. But I definitely don’t have the energy to write anything particularly meaningful tonight!
Spiritual Renewal Week begins
It feels so good to be having Spiritual Renewal Week in-person once again.
At tonight’s choir rehearsal we had singers from Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, Assisi, and Ananda Village (of course).
It’s not a large choir such as we’ve had some years, but it’s thrilling to finally be singing all together once again.
What joy!
Boosted
Getting pretty comfortable with needles these days. Lots of blood drawn on Monday, then got our booster yesterday.
Very grateful to have it, though we definitely felt the effects today (nothing serious, just sore arm, chills, achy, and tired).
We still managed to have a wonderful rehearsal for Saturday night’s Christmas concert but felt completely done in by the end.
The last few (hundred) things!
I could have sworn there were only two or three simple tasks remaining before I felt completely ready for the big week to begin.
Ha!
Luckily — though the morning was filled with singing for Sunday service followed by a kirtan rehearsal, and a concert run-through rehearsal is scheduled for the evening — I had the afternoon (yes, the entire afternoon) to address my seemingly endless to do list!
So now I really am as ready as I’ll ever be. 😊
A great rehearsal
Feeling especially appreciative of tonight’s choir rehearsal and reflecting on the reasons why…
Well, the choir is making a lot of progress musically, and it’s always a joy to hear the music coming into fuller expression. Plus, the music itself can be counted on to leave me with uplifted energy and feeling better than when I arrived. And it’s always fun to spend the evening with a choir full of dear friends, with lots of laughter, shared insights, and sense of accomplishment.
But most of all, I’m deeply grateful for that “thing” that can happen in almost any musical ensemble, when a group of people puts aside–to whatever degree possible–their individual selves in order to join their energies in creating something bigger than the sum of their parts. When each person’s mind is focused on the collective goal: contributing concentration, building magnetism, and uniting in ever closer attunement and connectedness.
Of course, all this is largely overt and conscious for an Ananda choir. I mean, our entire lives are dedicated to transcending our little “self” in order to better serve the higher “Self”.
But this kind of experience is not exclusive to devotees. I vividly remember many “peak experience” moments that occurred throughout a wide variety of musical experiences…from jazz bands to drum & bugle corps to musicals to orchestras to chamber music to a gig for a Jewish religious convention!
I grew to live for those moments when the energy of the music would sweep me away so I could feel at-one-ment with “something” bigger. And that’s what is starting to happen more and more with our choir. What a joy it is!