Mountain Thoughts

April 16, 2016 / a samaritan woman / 3 Comments

My friends Diane Moore and Victoria Sullivan are both gifted authors (and publishers) who divide their time between south Louisiana and the mountains of Tennessee. In addition to new worlds of poetry and polyploids (more on that later), they have introduced me to the Community of St. Mary, an Episcopal Benedictine convent on the mountain in Sewanee. Music partner Joshua (aka Bubba) and I were featured musical performers at a recent fundraiser for the convent.

It was a weekend of unexpected blessings and surprises. We were provided lodging in the convent, and this respite from daily life was welcome indeed. Not just the quiet and beauty of this place on the mountain, but the peaceful presence of the sisters create a haven saturated with the presence of spirit. Even cell phone service is nonexistent. Hooray!

Convent of the Community of St. Mary, Sewanee, Tennessee

Saturday was a day of focus on the fundraiser, a focus on the gig. Haul equipment, check out the venue, set up, do sound check, run through everything, put away cases. Head back to the convent to change for the evening. No big meal prior to playing or singing, so we fixed plates of a delicious meal and asked the caterers to please keep them safe as we’d be eating later.

Setup for St. Mary’s Gala…I’m glad we only had to deal with the sound system and instruments!

A room a bit too cold for this south Louisiana singer; I was trying to ignore the temperature as I sang. Don’t move around, the stage floor was hollow, and our prerecorded tracks (which had behaved perfectly in rehearsal) decided to skip occasionally. Technology is wonderful – when it works. (Computer? Tablet? Misbehaving!)

The evening was enjoyable in spite of a couple of gremlins in the technology, and successful. Sister Madeleine Mary and her team of interns (Heather, Waddy and Andrew) had put together a wonderful event, and we were delighted to be a part of it. At then end of the evening, it was teardown and loadout. In the midst of it all, we discovered that the caterers, in their rush to clean up, had thrown out our food. So much for that caramel cheesecake…sigh. I probably eat cheesecake once a year, and that was going to be my yearly cheesecake decadence. Oh, well. A late-night trek to McDonald’s in a nearby town brought memories of even later night meals after bar gigs. I finally crawled into bed exhausted.

Sunday morning I pried myself out of bed at 7:40 and performed the barest basics of morning presentability. I made it to the chapel for Eucharist with 5 minutes to spare.

The chapel at the convent. (Don’t you love fisheye lenses?)

I was expecting a small crowd, but this tiny chapel was full. Barely awake (with no time for coffee), I settled into the liturgy and hymns with relief. I’m tired, Lord, but I’m glad I’m here. I relaxed into the community of the congregation. In addition to the sisters, interns and Diane and Vickie, there were quite a few faces I’d seen the night before.

The service ended and we enjoyed breakfast together. And coffee. (Thank you, Lord, for coffee; it is absolutely one of your finest creations, along with music and chocolate. Amen!)

I looked to the afternoon, spread out before me with very little “to do” listed there. Lunch at 1. Repack the car. See some mountains. Take some photos. Listen. Above all, just listen, just be.

Dogwood trees on the mountain

Every child attending a Catholic school hears, sooner or later (usually both sooner AND later) , The Lecture On Vocations. Is God calling you to Holy Orders? I’d heard The Lecture often, but could never imagine myself in such a setting. I knew the Sisters of Mercy that served my school, and spent some time visiting and praying in their convent. I could not see myself there, and always felt a call to motherhood instead.

The Community of St. Mary, though, is more than just the sisters who live in the convent. They have associates who live in the community, and the convent’s influence is evident to even a new visitor such as myself. The rhythm of their lives and peaceful presence are threads woven beyond the physical space of convent and chapel. Through our mutual friends, they have touched my life in the past as far away as south Louisiana. Through spending time here, they have touched my life again, and I returned home to Louisiana with a bit of their spirit with me.

The very air there is saturated with a sense of the creative, evident in some of the silent auction offerings at the gala, and certainly evident in the writings of Diane and Vickie. One of Diane’s poetry collections, In a Convent Garden, has a photo of a small concrete statue of a merry nun on a swing. I smiled when I saw the original. Two of Vickie’s novels deal with a fascinating “it-could-almost-happen” new race of humans called polyploids. I will let creativity strike as it may and be content that I soaked up the blissful peacefulness.

Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. – Luke 5:15-16

I realize such quiet time isn’t a luxury, but a need. If Jesus needed solitude and “down time,” don’t we all? I was reminded of a far distant ancestor of mine, who at the end of a life of political and family intrigue, leadership, and imprisonment, retired to a convent in France. I can understand her desire for the sanctuary that such a place provided. We all need rest to combat the weariness of the spirit.

Diane’s blog is A Word’s Worth

Vickie’s first book about polyploids: Pinyon Publishing

Poetry and other good reads by Diane, Vickie, Anne Simon and others at Border Press

Emmanuel, God with us

December 25, 2015December 25, 2015 / a samaritan woman / Leave a comment

It was one of those priceless Christmas pageant moments. There they were, the children of our parish, all decked out in costume from the ankles up (never mind the historically inaccurate footwear), portraying Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds and kings. This year, we had several babies in the congregation available for the part of baby Jesus.

It was good that baby Jesus had understudies, because this particular baby Jesus was fussy. Crying-spit-out-noonie-fussy. Finally, after it was clear that baby Jesus wasn’t going to settle down, he was discretely whisked away by his mother. Um, the actor’s mother, that is.

The pageant continued without pause. Another baby Jesus was tucked into Mary’s arms. And wouldn’t you know…this baby Jesus got fussy too. The actors and narrator continued; the kings strode up the aisle of the church as baby Jesus was swapped out – several times. How many baby Jesuses did we have? Three? I lost count, but the entire cast received a rousing round of applause at the end.

Image from http://www.thegraphicsfairy.com

At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Christ, the Incarnation. God with us, God in us. Multiple baby Jesuses? No problem. What better illustration that Christ is in all of us, no matter how fussy and cranky we may be? Emmanuel, God with us.

We are all members of the Body of Christ and we carry this Divine Spark. So does all of humanity, no matter how buried or ignored the spark may be. Can it ever be truly extinguished?

On this day when we Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, I think of the words of a young Jewish girl who has been one of my heroines for most of my life:

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.” — Anne Frank

May the love of Christ be with you and yours this Christmas day and every day.

A Christmas gift of music for you: Rock My Baby Jesus

Gratitude: Beethoven.

December 18, 2015December 18, 2015 / a samaritan woman / Leave a comment

On December 17, 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized in the Roman Catholic parish of St. Regius in Bonn. 245 years ago today. The rest, as they say, is history, and so much more.

I’ve loved his music for most of my life. In childhood, I had a bust of Beethoven on my piano (who didn’t?). I remember when my grandmother came across this picture of Beethoven in front of his house, framed it and gave it to me. Beethoven house

My cousin, an artist, created a Beethoven teeshirt for me. What I knew of Beethoven as a child fascinated and frightened me – it was said he had a temper (and he certainly had wild hair) – but oh, his music. OH, his music!!

Part of the delight and wonder of it was that a budding piano student could play what the Great Man wrote. No waiting years and years for the musical payoff. Who hasn’t tackled Fur Elise with a sense of delight and accomplishment when the notes finally flowed smoothly? And who, knowing of his deafness, hasn’t been awed by the sheer fact that he wrote so much glorious, soul stirring music in silence?

Then again, it wasn’t silent inside of his head, and thank God for that.

There are countless articles, books, histories, etc. written about Beethoven. A wonderful read, published about 15 years ago, is Russell Martin’s Beethoven’s Hair. This book weaves together three true and fascinating stories: The story of a lock of Beethoven’s hair, snipped by a student after his death and encased in a locket, the story of two men who purchased it in 1994 and their subsequent testing and investigation of the lock, and the story of Beethoven himself. It’s a riveting read which sheds scientific information on the centuries-long mystery of what caused his deafness.

Beethoven hair book

It’s not exactly a spoiler alert – the news has been around for a while, although I still see articles online that say “no one knows exactly what caused his deafness.” The beauty of molecular testing on hair is that you don’t just get a picture in time, you get a picture of what was going on in the body over the period of time that the hair grew. You see what was ingested; poisons, drugs, etc.

Testing revealed massive levels of lead. It’s probable that Beethoven had somehow ingested large amounts of lead over the decades prior to his death.

Perhaps even more surprising is what was not found: No evidence of painkillers for his ever-increasing pain.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. How could a soul so much in touch with the most incredible subtleties of expression bear to dull himself so? I am more in awe of him than ever.

Who else could introduce such stories in so few notes? And then, he took those notes and gave us all the details, all the joy, the pain, the yearning. A man in such pain (for many reasons) wrote the most incredibly healing, magnificent music. One of his great lessons is that there is always beauty, no matter what life gives you. One work that came out of his deafness was his 9th symphony with its magnificent 4th movement. It’s music that takes a soul straight to heaven.

I cannot play any of his works masterfully (or even close), yet I play them for myself. It gives me joy to do so, and sometimes it just gives me solace.

Today, and every day, I am grateful for the music and the life of Ludwig van Beethoven.

– – – – – – –

The Guevara lock of hair is permanently housed in the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose University.

Filling in the Gaps

December 14, 2015December 18, 2015 / a samaritan woman / Leave a comment

Our church has a small but dedicated choir, but we often compliments such as “it sounds like the loft is FULL! It sounds like there’s a lot more people singing up there than there is!” It’s a lovely comment, especially as we’re often more of a quartet than a choir.

My friend (and fellow chorister) Margaret recently observed: “I think that God comes in and fills in the empty spaces for us.”

hymnals

We do sing with intention. We want to give our best to God, to our church family, and to Leon (our choir director who brings out the best in us). I think Margaret got it just right: God does fill in the spaces and magnifies our efforts. God can enlarge what we do if we allow it. Here’s an example from my own musical life:

On December 27, 2011, I lost my hearing in my left ear. Unable to find any other explanation for this sudden change (I’m meticulous about hearing protection when performing), my doctors figured it was the result of “a virus.” Over the next year I went through multiple tests, consultations, and listening to well-meaning folks telling me that it might just be wax in my ears, and why didn’t I just have surgery? I clung to hope of a spontaneous return of hearing (it might happen, my doctor said, we have to give it a year). I resisted the idea of a hearing aid for a while, and then began to look forward to the one year mark when I could begin the process of being fitted for a hearing aid.

That was not to be. The sensorineural hearing loss I have does not respond to a hearing aid. Welcome to life in monaural. I cried a river.

I’ve had to adapt. In the case of Epiphany’s choir, small is a blessing for me. I’m able to hear and enjoy the other parts without being distracted or confused. You can’t sing harmony without listening to what else is going on. While that’s not a problem with two working ears, it’s very tricky with only one. Unison singing can be challenging if we’re not all completely unison. My fellow choir members have become used to my moving around to find just the right spot to stand in the loft so that I can hear. At least solos are easy.

Recording vocal parts requires adjustment, too. My music partner Joshua and I recently remixed and re-recorded some demos from our Women at the Well program and released a short CD. A main objective was to re-record vocals and add vocal harmonies on several of the tracks, and there’s where God filled in the blanks.

Adding the harmonies required overdubbing – me singing different lines over myself. You can’t do that without hearing everything, and hearing everything with only one ear means the brain is processing some signals differently. I can’t exactly describe it, but I do know I had to completely re-learn how to manage this.

Since the only budget for this project was earmarked for CD replication, we were recording at Joshua’s house. The bathroom was the vocal booth. Contrary to what you may think, that’s not because of “bathroom acoustics” but rather because it was the quietest room in the house. Since a vocal booth needs to be “dead,” we had a lot of blankets and towels draped everywhere!

It’s a pretty funny picture. I was standing in a tiny bathroom, blankets draped over the shower curtain rod and piled in the bathtub, a big stuffed teddy bear crammed into the closet-without-a-door, scribbled notation taped to the wall in front of me so I’d remember exactly what to sing (what line am I singing now?) and I’m holding one headphone a couple of inches away from my ear so I can hear where to come in – but not so much as to be confusing….In the middle of all of this, a daddy longlegs spider appeared in the corner to watch.

Our budget also doesn’t allow for autotune, so it had to be perfect.

When I heard the final product, I cried with joy and relief. I’d feared I’d never be able to do this again, yet there it was, beautiful harmonies and all.

One of the first people to hear the final product was our friend Danny, who plays keyboards and sings backup in a world-touring zydeco band. Danny knows of my hearing loss, and also understands what’s necessary in overdubbing harmony lines. How did you do that with just one ear? he asked. That’s a miracle.

God stepped in to fill in the blanks inside of my head and ears. A next-to-nothing budget, Joshua’s considerable production skills and a whole lot of Divine assistance gave us a CD we could be proud of, that we could offer to those who heard our Women at the Well program and wanted to revisit the music again and again.

God fills in the empty spaces wherever we allow God to do so. My hearing loss makes me realize that if I’m going to keep doing what I love, I need God to fill in those empty spaces.

This morning I was fixing my tea and thinking about Margaret’s comment, our “heavenly choir” and how God fills things out for us. My eyes fell on a mail order catalog that my husband had left open on the kitchen table. There was a teeshirt that simply said:

God greater than

God is greater than. Can I get an AMEN? God is greater than anything and will fill in the blank spaces when we allow it.

To learn more about the Women at the Well program, visit www.women-at-the-well.com. For information about the Living Water CD, visit www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbontherock The CD page has the latest recordings.

Mindful Thanksgiving

November 26, 2015November 26, 2015 / a samaritan woman / Leave a comment

Today is Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for so many things: Love, health, family, home, safety, freedom, peace. I am fortunate because I will join loved ones for a good meal. I am blessed, and I am grateful.

Let’s be honest, though – the holidays are also high-stress. Stretched finances, overtaxed schedules, family members who make us wonder if there wasn’t some mixup at the hospital, and finding the right gift all take their toll. No wonder our habit of overeating gets cranked up a notch while our belts are loosened the same way!

pumpkinpie

Author, spiritual teacher and friend Lynn Woodland points out an alternative way of approaching the holiday table(s): Make your eating a spiritual activity. Not only will you slow down your eating (enabling your brain to trigger the “I’m full!” signal at a time when you can stop eating before misery kicks in), you’ll enjoy your food more.

Give thanks (you can do this silently if you wish) before diving in. Notice the beauty of your food as well as the taste. When I cook, I pay attention to colors and textures as well as flavors. Be grateful for the bounty of our Creator and the creativity of chefs! I’m grateful for the hands that harvested, the hands that cooked (and, of course, the hands that clean). I’m grateful for the nourishment. When was the last time you really sat and chewed and noticed how good that food is, and how good it is for your body? And if it isn’t all that good, why are you even eating it?

Eat mindfully, and mindfulness will start to spread throughout your holidays. Here’s something new to experience: Allow yourself to eat whatever you want – but ask yourself first if you really want it. If you must follow a special diet for health reasons, you’ll need to modify this. However, you can still look at that “forbidden” food in a new way: Does it serve me? Does it strengthen my body, enhance my health and well-being? You may be surprised to find that the fat-and-sugar laden former “treat” starts to lose its appeal. If you still want it (and it’s safe to eat it for health reasons), go ahead and enjoy it! Enjoy every single bite. Slowly. Imagine yourself a judge on Chopped and chew slowly, exploring all the nuances of flavors and textures. If you’re full before you finish the serving, you can always ask for a to-go box!

pecans

I’ve found this to be a very beneficial practice for body and spirit. With our recent change to a mostly-vegan lifestyle, I find myself seeking out different foods, and exploring them this way. Beans are a staple of our diet, and I often experiment with “new” beans. My husband says “a bean’s a bean!” but is beginning to discern subtle differences between them – and that’s just with the humble members of the legume family.

Food is sustenance and comfort. It is an excuse to celebrate, an event to bring people together. It is an expression of joy, sorrow, or support. We’re so used to that rush of deliciousness with the first few bites that we tend to plow through the rest of the dish without even giving our taste buds time to register their bliss. I’ve joked about pecan pie – the first bite is heaven, the second bite is great, and the third bite – well, it’s so rich, I’ve had enough! But really, what’s wrong with that? Take a smaller serving. If you fear the cook will be offended (a common occurrence in south Louisiana – “what, you don’t like it?”), fear not. Your slow and thorough enjoyment will be obvious, and you may start commenting on flavor nuances that you’ve never noticed before!

Take your time today and throughout the holidays. Savor time with loved ones as you savor each bite, and give thanks. When we focus on how truly special everything in life is, we slow down our rush to find more. We realize that maybe we really don’t need more of anything. We have plenty, and we are blessed.

Simple Gifts, Verse 2

July 7, 2015 / a samaritan woman / Leave a comment

Right now I’m preparing for an upcoming musical offering at a church. Our opening song will be Simple Gifts, which is a traditional Shaker song that I’ve always loved. Today I took a few minutes away from my regular routine to do some digging into this beloved song’s history.

Simple Gifts was written by Shaker Elder Joseph Brackett in 1848. The proper name of the denomination is the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing (or simply “Believers”). They were referred to as “Shakers” because of their very active ways of worship. My college Zen teacher, Fr. Ben Wren, SJ, would have called it “three dimensional prayer.” They danced (or “labored”), trembled, clapped, fell, and…sang. Do just a wee bit of digging online on Shaker song history and you’ll find they were prolific songwriters – thousands of songs came from this relatively small denomination.

Simple Gifts is a classic. The song enjoyed revival after composer Aaron Copland used the melody in Appalachian Spring, a ballet, and then in a collection, Old American Songs. Since then, it’s been recorded by many artists, and has been performed at two presidential inaugurations.

It’s a dance song, with a catchy melody and lyrics that most people can identify with. Brackett gave us one verse that celebrates the beauty of a simple life:

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
’tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
and when we find ourself in the place just right
’twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
to bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed
to turn, turn, will be our delight
’til by turning, turning, we come ’round right.

This single, simple verse is lovely, and impossible to improve upon. Loving the song, I’ve added my own second verse, inspired by the ideal of doing what we’re called to do, and sharing our gifts:

There are gifts of the spirit, there are gifts of the soul
There are gifts we give and blessings that we hold
and when we feel the touch of the Spirit’s wind
‘twill be a sign for the giving to begin.
When we answer each our call
We spread these gifts to one and all
We hear, do, and each shall give their own
Til by giving and doing we all have grown.*

Today I learned that (according to the Shaker Historical Society) Shakers believed that everyone has gifts and talents and each person was to use those gifts, and that creativity is a form of worship. Amen to that!

Keep life simple, accept your gifts and share them.

An Epiphany at Pentecost

May 27, 2015June 28, 2015 / a samaritan woman / Leave a comment

I had an Epiphany on Pentecost.

My “ah-ha!” moment occurred during Fr. Matt’s sermon. Now, I’ve heard many sermons on Pentecost. They’ve all focused on things like the birth of the Church, the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the empowerment of the disciples and the like.

But Fr. Matt pointed out something I’d never considered before: Pentecost happened during a meeting.

image from geralt on pixabay.com

Well, I about fell out of the loft chuckling. A meeting! Known to so many of us as that great interrupter-of-productivity, that drainer-of-energy, that breaker-of-plans. There’s not a soul on the planet who hasn’t, at one time or another, prayed for an excuse to avoid sitting in a meeting. Aw, shucks, I’ll have to miss the meeting, I have to bathe my cat / have a root canal / go to my niece’s dance recital.

It wasn’t just the meeting idea, though, that brought about my Epiphany. It was the realization that yes, there IS power in group intention, and I’m seeing it coming out of the spiritual closet after hiding out for a while.

The apostles had been sequestered for some days after Jesus’ ascension, wondering what the heck was going to happen next. They’d already seen incredible miracles. But…what next? They were hanging out in the upper room, praying, talking, eating, and yes, meeting.

photo from music4life on pixabay.com

Paul, in Acts, tells us of the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Call it a Hollywood moment or not, but clearly something happened. Whether it was an arrival of God in the Holy Spirit, or whether it was an awakening of God / Spirit within is something I’ll leave up to theologians to quibble over. But something stirred, woke up, brought, quickened, sparked SPIRIT inside of everyone there.

And I wonder what their shared intention had to do with it. They were there, in community, together, all focused on receiving whatever direction they were to receive. They were focused on surrender, to following whatever the path was. I don’t doubt they were frightened and probably quite clueless.

What next? And then, something happened. Whether you call that something the Holy Ghost, Spirit, or whatever – something Divine that was greater than any one of them brought them all together in shared intention and empowered them.

Acts tells us that they went out among the people that very day, preaching and baptizing thousands. Was it their shared experience – their meeting – that enabled them to lean upon each other spiritually, enhance the spiritual strength of the whole, and thereby be in a position to receive this incredible gift?

One way or another, consciousness rises. Sooner or later, humanity realizes that God is indeed in each of us. When we read the story of Pentecost, we should remember that this is what the story is about; that relying on Spirit – God – within ourselves gives us strength to do that which we would not otherwise do. Joining with others to focus intention, prayer and awareness raises this consciousness as a whole. I believe this is a path for humanity that we need to follow. We are a wonderful collection of unique, individual souls with a glorious diversity of gifts and personalities. At our core, we are all expressing God, for we are all made in the image and likeness of God from the very being of God.

The color of Pentecost is red. This is the same color as the root chakra in Hindu and yogic traditions . (If you’re not familiar with chakras, they are energy centers in the subtle body; a quick internet search will give you an overview.) Each chakra is important. The root chakra is one of energy and empowerment, and well suited to Pentecost. For without the energy, empowerment, and passion of the Spirit that was awakened during that Pentecost meeting, the story of Jesus would never had made it out of the upper room.

When in doubt…bring food.

November 4, 2014 / a samaritan woman / Leave a comment

Just a week ago I had a conversation with a couple of friends about “when in doubt, bring food.” Whenever someone has a Major Life Event, the common response (at least in my corner of the world) is to bring a meal, a casserole, a….something edible and delicious. I mentioned that I had often wondered if this “bring food” response is a Louisiana thing, or is more universal. “I think it must be universal,” said I. After all, drive-through daiquiri stands may be JUST LOUISIANA (yes, we have them) but food – well, everyone eats, right? I was told stories by the other friends that indicated that this isn’t always the case.

Huh? This was a surprise. If there were an official manual of Cajun Etiquette, page 1 would read simply this: When in doubt, bring food.

After all, it’s what we do. When someone has a baby, bring food. When someone has an operation, bring food. When someone has a surprise, a shock, an unexpected visitor, an expected visitor (or a whole houseful of them), a new house, bring food. When you have a new neighbor, bring food. When someone is packing to move out, bring food. And when someone dies, bring food. A meal, a covered dish, a casserole, a pot of gumbo…one brings food as a practical matter and as a symbol of sustenance. It’s an act of nurturing, of caring and of sharing.

I made this for your family and mine; we don’t have to eat it together to know that we’re with you in this. We symbolically share a meal, and in a part of the world where cooking is practically a religion, the offering of a meal is sacramental: An act of grace, an expression of love. I can’t take away your burden, but I can make your life a bit easier. I made you something that nourishes my family, I hope it nourishes and feeds your body and soul. Have some comfort food. Just receive; it was made with love and prayer.

If the event is a positive one, bringing food is still – always – an appropriate response. A celebration? You’ll have company, and I know you’ll want to feed them and spend time visiting, you don’t need to be in the kitchen. A new baby? Rest, Mama, all y’all have to do is heat up the gumbo, and don’t forget to eat ‘cuz you have to feed that baby. Your adult child is home from serving our country? He or she needs some real home cooking, and you need to spend time listening, not cooking. Eat.

Even if you are too numb to taste it, eat. Your body needs fuel. I thought of you and your loved ones; I prayed for you all while I chopped and cooked. Whether prayers of supplication or prayers of thanksgiving, I thought of you as I decided what to make, selected the ingredients, and cooked. My humble kitchen became a place of prayer as a meal for your family (and possibly mine, if the pot’s big enough) came together.

I made a lot, there’s plenty, don’t worry. I’m not always good at saying what I feel, but I sure can cook how I feel.

Sometimes words fail us, but food doesn’t. So when in doubt, bring food.

An Accidental Businesswoman

October 30, 2014October 31, 2014 / a samaritan woman / Leave a comment

Melissa Bonin is a dear friend of mine, and was recently honored as an outstanding businesswoman in our community by ABiz (Acadiana Business, based in south Louisiana). I was delighted to be invited to share this moment with her, and sat with several other friends and family at the luncheon that honored her and several other standard-setting women. Even though we recognized the many talents of our friend (“well, of COURSE she’s being honored!” was our communal reaction), Melissa was totally surprised by the honor. In her acceptance speech, she described herself as an “accidental businesswoman” because you see, Melissa is an artist.

She is also a very successful one, and over the years I’ve been amazed and inspired as I’ve watched her balance her response to the callings of her soul with the mundane tasks and trials of everyday life. A single mother, she’s dealt with the loss of both of her parents, illnesses in her family, and the demands of allowing Spirit to speak through her eyes and hands while trusting that she had everything she needed to live, love and thrive. Her work represents her deep relationship with the healing magic of the Louisiana landscape. She captures living water in rivers of light; looking at her work, the viewer experiences mystery and magic – and is simultaneously graced with understanding.

Melissa Bonin’s gallery in the Garden District, New Orleans

“To be an artist means to give voice or vision to the murmurings of the soul. Now ladies and gentlemen, you try to put that into a business plan,” she told the crowd gathered that day.

A business plan, indeed. She doesn’t need to swim in the “shark tank” to chart her path or grow her business; she listens to her heart and follows the call of the soul – and she paints. She says “…if I valued my soul’s voice and made my choices based on this belief …… all good things I wished and dreamed would happen.” What has guided her are the questions: “ Does this honor the work? What does the work require next? Does this bring joy? Does this affirm life? Does this inspire?”

I listened to her acceptance speech that day with tears in my eyes. In her usual uncanny way, she had summarized the challenges that so many of us face, and charted a path for meeting those challenges. As I listened, I simply said “well, of course. Put the call of the Soul first, and things will fall into place.” I’ve sometimes thought this to be impossible, but Melissa exemplifies this. She puts the most precious things first – her son, her art, the life of Spirit and Soul. It’s not an either/or, they all fall into place, with everything else second. Like so many other women, she’s found that it can be a bit of a high-wire act with bated breath and occasional heart-wrenching slips….but things come together and balance is achieved.

I’ve carried her words with me since that day, and have found inspiration for clarity, especially when I am overwhelmed. Asking myself “ Does this bring joy? Does this affirm life? Does this inspire? Does this draw me closer to Spirit?” If the answer is yes, then I can move forward, even if I am fearful.

Enjoy the life-affirming and inspirational work of my friend, gifted artist Melissa Bonin, at www.melissabonin.com and in person at her gallery at 3714 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA.