Sing the Song

My life is filled with singing. This is joyously my singular focus right now. It is about singing well, learning new ways of singing, singing in new languages, learning new songs, singing by myself, singing with others, singing to the Divine. I am thinking about and writing about singing, about chant, cantillation,psalmody and modal music. It is all about singing right now and so I share this poem with you.

Sing the Song

Sing the song,
the one that lights a fire,
a passion in your heart.

Sing of a passion
that kindles the sacred spark of knowing
at the deepest soul level.

Sing of a joy that ignites a fevor,
a bliss that comes
from being at One.

Sing out - sing from the heart.
Express your joy, bliss, love.
Sing a song that lifts the hearts of all who hear you.

Sing of the Source, of the Universe.
Sing of the sacred, the holy.
Sing of the angels, the spirits, the guides.

Sing of the best of humanity -
of compassion and kindness,
gentleness and acceptance,
honor and gratitude,
service and love.
Sing it ALL

Poetry and Pubs

Last evening at Angela's great enouragement I entered a poetry contest held at the White House Pub in Limerick City. I have never read any of my poetry before a audience,let alone for a poetry competition. But the idea appealed to me, it felt right,and so I just went for it. Now I never expected I would win nor did I,but the experience of being in a crowded pub full of poets and poetry lovers was a very lovely thing. I met so many interesting people, had long talks about spirituality with a very nice many who is quite and intuitive and with an artist whose speciality is to create sacred spaces, and whose poetry was the antithesis of his contained artist demeanor. His poetry was delivered with great animation and humor, others were delivered with sadness, poems of lost loves and lost lives. Some spoke angry poems and some spoke with great reverence for the special places or events in their lives.

Each and every poem was the expression of unique voice and individualty. It was fascinating to listen and to see how those are practiced presenters bring dramatic life to what they have written.I learned a great deal and it was an interesting evening to be with so many different people expressing themselves in their own special way. I was glad that Angela brought the contest to my attention and that I decided to enter. I found I liked presenting my own poetry. It was like being on stage again. I haven't been on stage in quite a while. I loved the poetry readings of others and the intellectual and creative atmosphere of the event and its participants.

The pub has a poetry corner set up for weekly readings by published poets and open mic nights for anyone wanting to get up and read. I know I will go again to be in the audience and if I am compelled to get up and read another poem I will do so. It was just a wonderful experience all around. Good poetry, good conversation and good fun.

I leave you with my poem on a visualzation of peace, written after 9/11. I chanted the very last line. My I was brave.

Love from Glocca Morra.

Harmony
A meditation for peace

Visualize harmony ~ visualize it everywhere.
See a softening of the earth’s atmosphere,
How it floats and gently falls to earth,
embracing all inhabitants
with a luminescent light that quivers and shimmers
like moonlight on the water.
See the entire earth and all that inhabit it,
breathing easily and gently as One.
It’s a quiet, easy, loving breath.
Just keep on breathing
Now see the trees in the forests,
the grasses of the meadows, the mountains,
deserts, birds, and all creatures;
all species are singing a new song.
They are singing it together.
There is a new order.
One of gentleness, effortless ease.
You can feel it.
It is everywhere you turn.
It is harmony.

Everywhere and in everything there is a new order
a settling of the dust ~ so to speak.
Life has become quiet.
Life has become profoundly meaningful.
Everything is lighter.
Everything is easier than it has ever been before.
It is easier to breathe.
It is easier to smile.
It is easier to move.
It is easier to love.
There is a restored simplicity.
There is a restored gentleness.
There is a new world order.
It is harmony
Visualize this and keep on visualizing this,
Until it is so.

CHANT… May Harmony descend upon the earth and peace and love prevail.

NOW

Now... this moment.
Notice it.
Breathe it.
Share it.
Accept it.
Value it.
Appreciate it.
Savor it.
Live it truthfully.
Live it joyfully.
There is only now.

TRANSITIONS

July 3, 2010

Life is a series of transitions. We move from one moment or event to the next, perhaps unmindful of the connection, the flow that is our personal journey. I think it is important to become mindful of transitions, of the events in our lifes, challenging or otherwise, that move us along. Why is it important to pay attention? Well, it is because these transitions show us where we are heading. The moments pushing us into transition are filled with messages from the Universe telling us to either move on or to stay put for awhile.

In my own life I have often recognized difficult moments as holding messages about the need for change. Sometimes these are only momentary difficulties requiring mid-course adjustments, but when difficulties keep arising it is time to pay attention. It is likely the Universe is prodding us along because we aren't listening. If we keep struggling like a fish trying to swim up stream, we will only end up exactly where we started. A situation, a job, a relationship that is fraught with difficult moments in spite of our best efforts requires reflection and analysis. I suggest spending time in meditation or deep contemplation, asking what the reason is for all the difficulty and how to over come it. It maybe that a conversation is in order or it may be time to leave that job that is frustrating and prevents you from using your best energy and greatest talents to make your best contributions. In situations like these the Universe is telling us to make a change, that the path we are on needs a mid-course adjustment, that something better is waiting.

I leaveAugust 1st for a year in Ireland, and my journey to Ireland has everything to do with a series of difficult moments and events that are generally described above. While appreciative of my colleagues and blessed to have a job, I had finally come to the conclusion that I could no longer work in the way that I had been working. A structured work environment no longer worked for me. While it seems easier not to make a change, and for many people change is a scary thing, this has never been my problem. Hanging on too long and trying to make something work has more often been the case. I don't easily give up. But this time the Universe conspired to set me on new course to fulfill my heart's passion in a very joyous way.

Several weeks before I discovered the world chant program that I am about to begin, I had gone to lunch with a dear friend who asked me very directly if I liked my new position. I was just as direct in answering "no". And she then suggested that I quit, rent my house, and go "check in" to an ashram. I must say that the idea was very appealing. I had read Eat, Pray, Love, just like everyone else! Four months in an ashram was very appealing. So I started to research where I might go. I remember that at some point I thought that if I was going to "check out" for a time, I needed to go to a place where I could learn about and practice the chant of the tradition. I have long studied world chant on my own, with a long term goal to teach others the value of chant as a away to unite the world, as an avenue to deeper meditation and inner peace, and also I have a great desire to perform world chant.

My conversation with my friend and my deep passion around chant all came together in an instant when sitting in my office I suddenly remembered a conversation with a student on the Ithaca College campus in August 2005 following a graduate music seminar we had participated in earlier that summer. All I really remembered of the conversation was mention of a world music program in Ireland. In the moment of that memory I was on the Internet typing in "world music program Ireland" and in a flash, up popped the Irish World Academy. I quickly scrolled down the program offerings and there I found not just a world music program, but a MA Ritual Chant and Song program. I cried. I understood I had been loving led by the Universe to the place and program that would give me the knowledge, experience, and credentials I need to teach and preform world chant.

I tell you all these details to show you that once you start to pay attention to the signals from the Universe and follow this infinite guidance, things start to fall into place easily and effortlessly. That is what happened that September day and since that moment I have made many transitions: from working to non-working, to packing my things and selling my house, to moving in with my beautiful children for a short time untilmy departure for Ireland. All these are transitions,major life changes that are leading me to my music degree in the area of study I am most passionate about. I am so grateful.

My advice: listen to your heart and follow it in pursuit of your deepest passion. It has taken me many years to understand this and I am grateful for every moment, lesson along the way. Try to understand why something difficult is happening and try not to be a victim of it. If something remains difficult then you are probably going against the flow. The Universe wishes to take you in another direction. Listen . Go fearlessly on your path embracing every new opportunity and transition as it presents itself. Pay attention and follow the Guidance that will take you through each transition. Understand that these transitions are important to your growth and they are leading you along your path to fulfilling your life's purpose.

Please share with me your thoughts on this subject.

Namaste,

Marsha

Stepping into the Adventure

Have you read Deepak Chopra's Seven Spiritual Laws of Success? If not, it is a must read. This little book is packed full of practical wisdom. It provides an understanding of spiritual principles or universal laws and ways to put these laws into practice. They are based on the essential understanding that our thinking and our reactions to what arise in our lives can change the quality of our lives in the most positive and joyous way. In this little treasure of a book, one can learn about non-judgement and detachment, about the essence of our true nature, and how to learn to trust the intuitive self. We can learn to step out of our head and into our deepest place of knowing - that, which is connected to the Infinite Intelligence.

I picked up this book in 1994, just as I stepped fully into my spiritual quest to understand the deeper implications of my life and to search for what was beyond my five senses. I was about to wake up to Self, and Chopra's words inspired me, returned me to a place of joy, and taught me a new way of being in the world. It took practice, but I learned to detach from outcomes, to divest of preconceived notions, and expectations. I learned that there is truly only NOW. I learned with lots of practice over the years to live in the moment, fully present - at least most of the time! And with a lot of conscious effort, I was able to attain the results that Chopra so eloquently speaks of: to live fearlessly, unafraid to step in to situations, and without preconceived notions or expectations of the outcomes. Of course you must do your part; visualize what you want and then take responsibility and take actions as required to set the stage. Then let go and see what results. Ultimately the outcomes will be more than could have anticipated or expected. This is what makes everything an adventure.

I know that this may all seem very esoteric. I suggest you read the book to gain clarity. I can only tell you that this little book changed my life. And now, I am about to step into a new adventure "without judgment, preconceived notions, or expectations." ( This is my life's mantra, my guide for all that occurs in my day, week, month, year.)

I am so exited and deeply grateful for the opportunity that the Universe is providing to fulfill my heart's passion. I have been accepted to the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick for a MA Ritual Chant and Song program. I have resigned my position at Ithaca College, sold my house, and will leave in August for Ireland.

I will be residing in a little stone cottage outside of the beautiful and quaint village of Adare, 25 minutes from the University of Limerick. It is where I will study world chant, and where I will live the "Irish life" for at least a year. My goal is to develop a curriculum and performance repertoire in world chant, and to finally earn a degree in music, something I have always wanted. That is as much as I know. I am about to step into this adventure without preconceived notions or expectations and with an open heart.

I will use this blog to share my journey. I feel incredibly blessed to have the support and love of my family and close friends who understand why I do what I do. I am reminded of two roles I played in my Lyric Theater days in Watertown, New York. There is a song from Fiddler. Hodel sings to Tevye, "how can I hope to make you understand, why I do, what I do? Why I must travel to a distant land, far from the home I love." Those who know me understand. I will miss my children, family, and friends, but I am following my deepest compelling. I am following my heart. " I hear a bird, a River Shannon bird", sings Sharon to Finian. " It well may be it's calling me beyond the sea." The new building for Irish World Academy sits right on the River Shannon.

Life is filled with synchronicity...Glocca Morra here I come!

Those Limiting Beliefs: Just Give Them Up

A Journal Entry - January 18, 2010
5:59 a.m.

Give up all your limiting belief,
the ones that hold you back from
accomplishing your goals, living
your deepest passions.

Know, deeply know
that you can do anything,
be anything, go anywhere.
There are no limits, except
those we impose upon ourselves.

Don't believe the chattering
mind that tells you you can't,
you shouldn't, or that puts up
obstacles; brick walls that block
your vision of what is possible.

Don't let your fears
constrain you.
Push through them and
follow your heart.

Know that whatever it is
that you are seeking,
you are absolutely deserving
of all good things.