Press Play first. Then read.
Hello all of you patient readers. If you still check back to this blog, I am grateful for your persistence. I believe the cycles of life ebb and flow, from external, to internal and back again. My recent year has become a very internal journey, and I consciously chose to pull back and tend to my life with a quieter, more contemplative personal time. Many choices, and transitions have been occurring and I believe when something truly valuable to you is in the "birthing" process, holding it close is called for while you make your decisions, take some baby steps, and then adjust.
I have plans to change the scope and content of this blog in very fundamental ways. It started as a way to keep many friends connected to the in's and out's of my personal stats. Chemo, no chemo. Test results, things people can do. But it has evolved beyond that now and so I am deliberating on what the next incarnation of this blog will be.
For now. The holidays. The spiral to the center of the year, and the time of a tiny flicker of light held within the darkest times. I can so relate.
Recently,
I "ran into" the biography of the the life of someone I deeply identify with, and it only took diving back almost millennium to do it. I came across this 900 year old mystic nun, by "accident", when my body was breaking down from fatigue, and I took a day to be quiet, and recoup. And by "accident" learned about the life of Hildegarde of Bingen. She was a nun from Germany around 1100 AD.This piece, which she composed, I can feel in my bones. One of my favorite things is music in the woods and singing in chant style. So I LOVE this version of Hildegarde. Our lives parallel in many ways, and I had never, ever heard of her before. She was a nun, mystic, scientists, artist, composer, a bit of a rebel, etc. She came close to death, after years of repressing her inner calling, and came out of it with visionary work. (May I follow her footsteps!!). I always joked I should've been some sort of Buddhist nun or monk if I hadn't followed the motherhood path. But maybe it is my Catholic Italian side that is calling me.
Eitherway, you didn't come here to get schooled on 900 year old rebel nuns. :)
Enjoy this beautiful piece, may it bring a moment of stillness in the hectic pace of the holidays.
See you next year!
(Added Feb 2011 - I've had the lovely opportunity to talk to Marisa herself. She is as lovely as these songs. She isn't coming to the US anytime soon, but I promised I would make sure a link to her site was up. If you find this music calls to you, go here www.marisa-music.com. It is available on CD or digital. For US readers, the digital is cheaper because of shipping, and kinder to the environment.)
Many Blessings,
Jenna
