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This past week, we had the opportunity to be part of an incredible event called "Thirsty" where 2,000 young people came together in the legendary Roy Wilkins Auditorium in Minneapolis, MN to learn to be the difference between water scarcity and water abundance, to learn to be the difference between despair and hope.
Charles Banda, one of the presenters and Director of The Malawi Freshwater Project, came all the way from Africa to share with us his story about his experience with water and the work that he is doing to provide clean, fresh water. We watched a segment of Water First, a documentary on water and living conditions in his country, in which Mr. Banda and his organization are featured.
Heatherlyn and band performed music such as a rockin' remix of the traditional spiritual Wade in the Water, with original lyric stanzas by Heatherlyn: "Who are the youth in their sweatshirts and jeans...wade in the water...who will live for one another and pull up their sleeves?...God's gonna trouble the water." Later, Heatherlyn shared the story behind her song on water scarcity, Hard to Swallow and the band delivered like no body's business.
I've heard many say something to the effect of "being a voice for the voiceless". I understand the good intentions behind this but I feel strongly that this statement is both condescending and dehumanizing. EVERY HUMAN BEING HAS A VOICE! Seriously, if any person is "voiceless" it is because we haven't listened. Yes, many voices are suppressed or ignored, perhaps lacking a platform, and WE who happen to have many resources and platforms need to be about the work of voicing.We need to SURFACE, HONOR, and AMPLIFY voices of the oppressed. We at Heatherlyn Music hope to be about this work around the world. Art, music and dance are miraculous means to surfacing voice, helping ANY human being (myself included) discover and express their own voice. How do you go about voicing?How do you listen and honor marginalized voices?How do you amplify these voices that must be heard?How would you be willing to support our work in this?Thanks for your time and consideration of these things.~Heatherlynwww.heatherlynmusic.com
what is success?surely not more excess.follow your heart,what makes it beat strongest.if even madness to your head,go with gladness.be courageous.
Last week, I got to spend every morning with my good friend "Swen" and a handful of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders...all we talked about was creativity and song-writing. We tapped chairs and pen tops, drums and our own knees to create various rhythms. We looked all around us for ideas of things to write about and then we took 5 minutes to write non-stop to discover what sources of inspiration were inside of us.
Mid week, the class wrote 2 verses and a chorus about an "Animal Mansion" that was a home for all creatures of the earth. These animals all sang and danced and played together. You could come to sing and dance and play along. Apparently it was such a fun place to be, you'd want to stay forever. WOW, right!?!
These kids totally get something about life and our intrinsic connectedness. Penguins playing with lions, dolphins leaping in the water alongside kangaroos that hop on the shoreline...This all reminds me of another story I've heard, a story about a vision or dream of the earth one day, how it may be when all things are reconciled...the lion and the lamb will lie down together...and a little child shall lead them....
We ‘ve transitioned Heatherlyn.org to heatherlynmusic.com for a number of reasons, including that our actual legal business name is “Heatherlyn Music” and our myspace URL is heatherlynmusic. So there’s simply more continuity here and in my mind, it sounds a bit cooler too. ;D
But this modification made me think about the two words together…What does "Heatherlyn Music" mean? Not just that it’s Heatherlyn’s music, meaning poetry and melodies I’ve written; not just as a brand name cause it happens to be my name, but what is music that's “heatherlyn” ?
Names have always been important to me. I’ve always been interested in their origin and meaning. There are a few different meanings I’ve come across for my name, but the simplest meaning of “Heather” alone is “flowering”. Maybe you’ve seen the flower. It’s similar to baby’s breath, but with a slight purple or bright pink color. One of my favorite countries, Ireland, is known for its fields of heather.
So…Flowering: I do want the spirit of Heatherlyn Music to be about valuing and celebrating the simple, natural beauty in life. Sometimes we need a song to remember the abundance we have so close to us in these free and effortless gifts that are so easy to forget.
“Lyn” means “flowing river.” This makes me think of those traditional tunes like “Down by the Riverside” and others that illustrate a vibrantly flowing river, fresh water that is available to nourish all that surrounds it: the earth, the flowers, trees and ALL people. The river does not discriminate. It freely flows.
So…Flowering, Flowing River: We may feel the challenges of these times and the hardships many face in the world are like stagnant waters and barren lands. We hope Heatherlyn Music will be refreshing, an endlessly blossoming flow of creativity, inspiring us all to be life-givers, peacemakers, justice-doers, kindness-lovers, care-takers for each other and the earth.
So when you hear “Heatherlyn Music”, we hope you won’t only think of the woman, the songs, or the voice of Heatherlyn, but we hope you’ll also imagine how you, your gift and your voice for all your days can continually stream hope and beauty as a life-giving river to the whole wide world.
Peace,
heatherlyn
now at www.heatherlynmusic.com
