Hope and spring are in the air!

 

Yesterday was a happy glimmer of hope at the nursing home where I have worked playing music since 2017.  For the first time since the pandemic, we were able to gather in a small group (wearing masks) and sing together.   It was uplifting to us all and very meaningful to me.  I have played music in nursing homes for 16 years and since the pandemic, I have had to move all my music sharing to virtual. It is not the same as coming together as a group to sing and share as we were able to do yesterday. I was thinking how it got to be something I took for granted and I never would have imagined something like this pandemic could happen. 

At this nursing home, our favorite songs are gospel songs. I was struck by how much the words resonated and rang true for all we have come through this past year:

"Farther along we'll know all about it, farther along we'll understand why. Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine, we'll understand it all by and by." 

How many times have we been in the midst of something and been just dumbfounded by what it all means? why is this happening? What does it all mean? and then when time passes, we "get it" and understand. 

One man was in tears as we talked about their year in lockdown.  Now with vaccines, and covid under control there (they lost 17 residents last July from Covid), finally a glimmer of normalcy is beginning to return. Spring is on the way and we broke into, "I Saw the Light" by Hank Williams. 

"I saw the light, I saw the light, no more darkness, no more night. Now I'm so happy no sorrow in sight, praise the Lord, I saw the light!"  Another favorite. 

As always, people always tell me,  "You're so nice to be doing this. " but I can tell you I get so much out of it . To see how these people have endured being confined to a small, shared room for a year and to watch their friends dying, to not be able to have visitors from family or friends, to be deprived of any love and much needed social contact.. I don't know how they could have done it but their strength inspires me. 

I left with my heart so full of gratitude for them and sharing of music again . 

Drumming for Peace

 

Last time I told you how I fixed my broken drum. Now I am hear to tell you what inspired me to fix it and what I'm doing now with it! 

Each month at Unity Church in Charlottesville, my friend Ayesha leads a devotional Chanting session. The chants come from various traditions such as Native American, Hindi, Sufi, etc. If you've ever taken a yoga class, you have heard this music. It is not performance music, it is music used for meditation and sonic yoga.  A chant is a short song like a mantra that repeats over and over again.   I first discovered this music in the late 80s when I worked on summer staff at Omega in upstate New York. I was playing tabla drums then and it was great to find a community and music where I could play them. 

I am including a link for you here to see the whole chanting concert and sing along if you like! It is very uplifting and fun to do. 

For months, I was singing along from home and drumming along on my legs to this music. One day this fall, I remembered my broken drum sitting in the hallway and thought, "I have to get this fixed so that I can play with them!" and that is what I did! 

Here is the link and enjoy!