Song Everywhere
It's time to bring your voice and vision
(photo by Melissa Fritchle)
Chee-ee-cut Twee-twee-twee CAW CAW CAW chirr-tee-tee-tee pee-o-wee-pee-o-wit
Now I can leave the back door open and hear birdsong in the warmth of the day. Different songs weave together as different birds come through to gather seeds and sunlight on their wings. It calls me outside – how could it not?! I want to see these vocal visitors.
I know that birds sing to mark territory and share warnings, as well as to impress a potential mate. But after the cold and wet of Winter, these sounds of Spring cannot help but seem to be singing ongoing celebration – I am here!
I am here. This is important. In the Spring, as new life peeks out from the ground and the nest and the den, and our own energy begins to grow and call us to step out into the world again, we are in the realm of Expression. The individual who is learning to engage with community by finding its own voice or expression. All around us new beings are introducing themselves to their neighbors through their colorful blooms or reaching branches or fluffy tails or intricate songs. Older beings call out too, I am still here. Branching high into the sky white plum blossoms have hung on through wind storms, shocking me with their fierce tender resilience. Chorus frogs begin their ragged sounding as soon as the freeze is over, marking the beginning of Spring for their friends and neighbors.
As we move out of Winter’s quiet internal nest, how do we stretch our lungs? What song do we feel called to bring forth now? Spring is connected to birth and childhood, so the time of becoming of an individual. In spiritual terms birth can be seen as a moment of differentiation from the Divine, as we come into a separate body, now on a journey as an individual re-membering her way back to the One-ness. But the goal is not to skip ahead to oneness again, it is to fully incarnate this unique being you are now. Our first expression in life is to take in that first breath and belt it out in a cry to be heard, to be attended, to be known.
Here in the bursting growth of Spring, in the chorus of voices, we yearn to say I am here. We are imbued with the creative spark. What can I grow? What can I become? How can I channel this gift of breath – the air that connects us all – into a sound, into words, into my contribution? How can I share? How can I connect? I am here to love and be loved!
Make a joyful noise indeed. Can we humans join our feathered kin in using our breath to push out joy, gladness, gratitude? We have gathered in song circles for generations and hummed to our babies and made wordless melodies to pace our repetitive work. Songs have allowed us to express intensity that simple speech cannot contain. Songs have allowed our stories to be carried in memory and to places we never traveled. Songs have spurred us to the action of justice and resistance. Songs have let us get lost in the power of the shared voices and transcend ourselves.
There is a European ancestral practice for giving thanks or blessing to the Earth called wassailing, which is singing prayers to the land. The word wassail is from old Anglo-Saxon, waes-hael meaning to make whole. So the term suggests that not only do our songs of prayer make the land whole, but that expressing our love makes us whole.
What do you need to express to make yourself whole? This need not be a product or art piece or perfect poem. This is more likely a form of gratitude that only you know. It is a vision that you see within you. It doesn’t need witnesses, not human ones anyway. It is something that builds from your breath, from all your receiving, from a simple rushing outbreath of wow.
How might you say I am here in this new Springtime? How might you make space for your individuality and expression amongst this loud and sometimes cacophonous and sometimes harmonious world?
As you consider your song, I invite you to consider the word universe – uni/one and verse/song, suggesting the nature of this vast creation is song or vibration made up of billions of beings coming together. Welcome. You are here. Make some noise. Make art. Join the chorus of life around you.
Do you want 4 weeks of inspiration and community for creating your art? Join us!
Living Your Muse: Creativity Embodied
Wednesdays, 2:30-4:30pmPDT : July 23, July 30, August 6, August 13
Registration - cost $295 USD
I’m thrilled to be collaborating with my friend and teaching companion Michele Walker of Weaving A Crone on this beautiful four week online offering.
The Sacred Wild speaks to us in unknown languages that we learn through creative listening, sensing, and processing. Often understanding our interactions with the Wild emerges only after we have put an image to paper, or allowed poetry to flow out, or felt the gestures and movements of a dance. Within each of us is a Muse who, if called, will help us to fully engage in a deeply embodied, soulful way with the Sacred Wild and our own inner landscapes.
Join us for an experiential journey over 4 weeks of a full moon cycle, of Living Your Muse. Together we will stoke the fires of our creativity with drawing, expressive writing, photography and movement. Each invitation to create will be rooted in connection with the natural world and personal reflections.
Held within the Center for Wild Spirituality’s Mighty Networks platform, The Ecosystem, the experience will include a private group page for sharing our creations and thoughts, as well as recordings of sessions you miss. Attendance live is important though, so plan to be present with us as often as possible. No art experience necessary - this is about tapping into the innate creativity within you.