(not necessarily in that order)
We had a truly lovely time staying in Palos Verdes with dear friends Padma and Arnab, and their delightful daughter, Ronjini.
The new (to us, anyway) center in Torrance is beautiful; our workshop was well-attended; and a great time was had by all!
Finally a day with just a simple lunch of gnocchi with pesto at Silvio’s (Ramesha’s father). We would have only been there maybe an hour and a half total, except that today we had to do…
Yep, you guessed it…laundry. Which kept us there all afternoon
It was actually a good thing because had a chance to plan the program we’re doing for the Ananda group in Bellinzona this Sunday afternoon, on “The Power of Sound and Music on Consciousness.”
It’s kind of amazing how full this first two weeks in Lugano has been.
“Sing and the Battle Is Won” is the title of the music workshop we’re scheduled to present two weeks from today, on Friday afternoon of 50th anniversary week. The question I’ve been asking myself lately is…when in the world are we going to find the time to work on it?
Well, this morning I started to understand the answer to that question…
We often start our weekly music meetings by singing one of Swami Kriyananda’s songs as our opening “prayer”; this morning I was inspired to suggest “Sing in the Meadows”, one of his children’s songs. The lyrics go like this:
Sing in the meadows and ev’rywhere:
Sing out a blessing to ev’ryone!
Lift up your voices, Lift your hands on high.
Sing and the battle is won.
Afterwards I realized that this song teaches us how to rise above feelings of overwhelm and stress by singing; blessing everyone; and looking up (keeping our energy flowing in an upward direction).
So now I get it. My preparation for the workship is to practice the principles of the workshop as I move into and through the 50th anniversary week. Singing this song helps me feel the reality of the workshop’s subtitle: Music for Inner Victory. Give it a listen, sing along, and see if you don’t feel inwardly victorious as well!