Well, before Sunday, Saturday at the conference was an all around excellent experience. I watched a tribute to Wayne Dyer called “Forever Wisdom” and a keynote speech by Anita Moorjani about her near-death experience with terminal cancer, which essentially saved her life. Joe Dispenza talked about rewiring our health by rewiring our brains (sounds scary, but just with positive self-talk), and I witnessed a tremendous group healing through “tapping” – the Emotional Freedom Technique – by tapping guru Nick Ortner. After a few more presentations, I had the evening free for dinner, relaxing, and much reflection. Much reflection was due, since late Saturday evening brought out a beautiful full moon! I love to create full moon altars at which I can honour the moon’s effects on our earth and water, and do some journaling and meditation. Setting up an altar helps to hold space for myself. Here are some photos of my altars from April and this past Saturday night. And of course…a moon song! We’ll be hearing this one again! With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
Truth be told, I am writing this post long after May 22nd. Truth be told, it’s a post I never expected to write, nor do I want to. On the morning of Sunday May 22nd, I was in a seat at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, for Day 2 of the Hay House “I Can Do It” Conference. This conference brings world-class motivational speakers to town, movers and shakers in the spiritual community, and thousands of eager attendees. It was one of the most amazing events I have ever witnessed. People got along, sharing and group healing were the norm, and lives really were changed. There’s nothing weird or cult-ish about it (trust me, I was curious about that). Hay House is a huge publishing company and people are moved by their authors. It’s legit, and it’s awesome.
However, mid-morning, I received a text from a dear old friend, with the news that another dear old friend had died the night previous in a house fire. Living in a remote area with no one close enough to help, her whole house burned to the ground. It is painful to imagine, and still surreal to acknowledge. I hadn’t seen my friend in years, and yet thanks to the wonders of modern technology we’d always kept in touch, especially about dogs, and her incredible rescue work. Emily Ugarenko was truly an animal rights champion, particularly for pitbulls, an unbelievably gifted artist, metalworker, chef, and photographer and she had one of the most loving and generous hearts you can imagine. She was smart, and funny, and beautiful, and her light shined so brightly. A radiant soul. Emily died in the fire, with her many beautiful animal companions. It’s beyond sad. A word doesn’t even exist for the sadness. My heart aches every day for her family and close friends, and I know moving on is the hardest thing they will ever have to do.
I immediately had to leave the hall. I couldn’t breathe, see, or hear properly until I got back to my hotel for a lengthy, hyperventilating cry. On a soul level, you must accept that everyone is on their own path and their time to go is their time to go, and it’s not for us to understand. In a spiritual community you can reach out to your friends who are mediums and be assured she didn’t suffer and all will be well. But on a human level it fucking hurts to think that someone you love and care about might ever have to experience anything like this. And you desperately pray that it was all over quickly.
I went back to the conference later in the day, and the next event was Mike Dooley’s lecture on “The Top Ten Things Dead People Want To Tell You.” It was hard to listen, poignant and moving as it was. Next, the “Spirit Junkie” herself, Gabrielle Bernstein, took the stage. Her talk was about digging deep and getting real, in a way she realized she wasn’t when she launched her career in motivational spirituality after years in PR. It was a good talk. But the part I’ll take with me the most was the opening Kundalini mantra she played, to offer us all protection and the bonding of singing together. I hadn’t heard music like this before, and no credits were offered. I tracked down the song and I’d like to share it with anyone, everyone, who may ever read this. This mantra is sung to “invoke the protective energy of the universe” (according to the Spirit Voyage Music website), and I invoke, and hope, and pray, that wherever we are and however it happens, we leave our earthly lives with protection, with peace, and with love, and arrive safely wherever we’re going.
Sung by the stunning Jai-Jagdeesh, here are the Gurmukhi words and the English translation. With love, light and song… ~Melissa~
Aad Guray Nameh (I bow to the primal Guru) Jugaad Guray Nameh (I bow to the truth that has existed throughout the ages) Sat Guray Nameh (I bow to True Wisdom) Siri Guroo Dayvay Nameh (I bow to the Great Divine Wisdom)
Last weekend I attended the Canadian Opera Company’s closing performance of Maometto II, and while it’s not high on my list of operas I’d see again, the three leads were all outstanding. I can’t imagine anyone out there who could give mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Deshong a run for her money as Calbo, and I wish I could find a video of her in this role to share with you. But we do have this! A good video of a stellar in-concert performance bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni gave about four years ago, featuring his introductory aria in the lead role. Rossini is better know for his comedic operas, so it was interesting to hear this serious opera, versus, say, The Barber of Seville! Pisaroni was truly excellent as this dark and violent character (based on a real fifteenth century Ottoman ruler), heard here encouraging his warriors to arise and triumphantly conquer the world with him. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
Ah love! “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” sings Carmen in the opening of the famous Habañera in the opera of the same name. The bird you think you’ve caught can fly away any time, just like a fickle lover! Sultry, sexy, and stunning singing is one of the hallmarks of this piece, and mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili offers it in spades! I had the sincere pleasure of hearing her two weeks ago in the Canadian Opera Company’s new Carmen production by director Joel Ivany. Rachvelishvili carried herself gorgeously throughout the show, and was definitely my favourite of the three Carmens I’ve seen on the big stages. Here is a great video of a captivating in-concert performance she gave last year. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
While thinking of my last post, and today being the superstitiously scary and unlucky Friday the 13th, it seems like a great day to post a “wicked” little song from another franchise! When I first heard this Hogwarts choir (made up of little witches and wizards and giant toads!) in the movie version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I freaked out with joy! You know I love choirs but do you know how much I love Harry Potter? Probably an inappropriate amount for my age! If I ever do go back to school again, my first application will be as a mature student at Hogwarts. On this Friday the 13th, please enjoy John Williams’ setting of Shakespeare’s witches’ chant from MacBeth! With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
Oh wow, the best video came out last week! The original leads from the musical Wicked, Kristin Chenoweth (Glinda) and Idina Menzel (Elphaba), re-recorded their iconic second act duet For Good. If possible, this might even be better than the original! I am, of course, moved to tears. Not only is this a beautiful part of the show, the song itself reminds me of many sweet and wonderful students who have picked pieces from this show. And then… sniff!… we usually sing this at final lessons before university departures… someone bring me a tissue! Each student really does change a teacher for good. With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
The “song” in my last post was featured on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. I’ve mentioned before my love of late night talk shows, as well as my love of good impersonations (that Adele surprise on the BBC still cracks me up!). So for Silly Saturday I’d like to share a bit of behind the scenes impersonations starring Jimmy Fallon, back in the Late Night days before The Tonight Show. He’s a really talented, comedic musician. Hope you get a few laughs out of this! The Bruce Springsteen moment is my favourite! With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
If you listened to the video in the last post, did you wonder from where else you recognized Jackie DeShannon’s voice? I did! Turns out she sang What The World Needs Now and I never realized they were recorded by the same person. Granted, the songs came out over a decade before I was born, but still! I really love her voice and the message of these two pieces, so we’re having back-to-back Jackie DeShannon posts! I can also tell you, thanks to Google, that in addition to writing and recording oodles of songs over the years, she is now an entertainment reporter for Sirius XM Satellite Radio.
As we launch ourselves into May, I wish you a happy May Day and Beltane, and happy anything else that deserves celebrating! I’ll be posting every three days for this month, and I thank you for reading! With love, light, and song… ~Melissa~
