John O’Donohue was an Irish poet, priest and philosopher, whose tender gift for words could touch even the most defended of hearts. I recently came across this beautiful blessing of his (below) and shared it with a Broadview United Church friend, the Reverend Margaret Harper. She was as moved as I and chose to use [...]
I’m in a little poetry group with a few women. We each share a poem we’ve found (or written) and talk about it. Invariably, the poems are thought-provoking. My friend Ella recently shared Ellen Bass’s “If You Knew.” The poem touched me and I thought of sharing it in a blog post. In light of [...]
What’s So on “the Outside” These are heavy times; some call them “evolutionary times.” The crumbling of the old is causing confusion and disillusionment. That there is no clear indication of the new (and how can there be at this stage?), is causing wide-spread fear. This is most dramatically apparent in the USA, but really, [...]
September 21, 1934-November 7, 2016 Leonard Cohen's voice will not be "still." His music will continue to live on in the hearts of millions now and to come. Like many, when the news was released on November 10th that Leonard Cohen had passed away, I cried. Two days later, his son Adam posted a touching [...]
In my previous blog, Music to Build Bridges, I shared a message about man-made problems that divide the human race and cause needless suffering. Problems include such things as non-communication, prejudice, greed, racism, sexism, and so on. Human problems are largely about disconnection, first from ourselves and then from others. How is music able to [...]
In Memory of Anita Mui 梅艳芳 October 10, 1963 – December 30, 2003 What is a life written in water? Meaningful or empty? If it had a melody, would it sound happy or sad, or something else? Anita Mui sang the evocative “A Life Written in Water” in a 1984 Hong Kong movie called “Homecoming.” Anita was a superstar [...]
Sometimes the world feels like a fearful place. Events can weigh heavily and it’s easy to lose a sense of balance, direction and personal power. What do you do to get centered and protect yourself from negativity? How do you raise your own and others’ vibrational energy fields? […]
Teresa Teng, Deng Lijun, 邓丽君 When I arrived in Harbin, China in 2004 to teach English, I wanted to learn at least a little Mandarin. Since music helps me a lot with other languages, I asked my friend Liyi for help. "Who can I listen to who sings Mandarin clearly and also [...]
