I have learned to listen more closely to my intuition.  Today I had the strongest urge to record the vocals for a song I’ve been waiting to record since May of this year when I composed it.  This song is close to my heart because of the melody, the lyrics as well as the language.  It is sung in English and Spanish and is a duet with talented musician, Ali Youssefi.  We are working on this project long distance as I love his style of guitar and the emotion in his voice and felt that our voices are compatible.  Ali recorded the guitar and his vocals in a studio in Haifa, Israel and sent me the files to work on the vocals in Beijing, China! (How I love modern technology)!

So today, for no reason, I suddenly felt a strong feeling that I should record the song.  It felt like the right moment.  Often when I’m required to record vocals for a certain song and I’m not quite in the mood, the feeling and emotion don’t come so easily and it sometimes takes a long time to achieve the vocal results that I want.  I have learned to seize those moments when my heart wants to sing.  Of course there are some challenges in working with this spontaneous method but I’m very lucky to work with a producer that is flexible and understanding of my needs for recording (thanks Jarome for sacrificing and making me a priority today)!

As a result of listening to my intuition, today’s recording session went very smoothly and efficiently as I was able to connect with the words and the emotion in my voice was expressed with more fluidity and ease.  Here are the lyrics for the song which are from the Hidden Words of Baha’u'llah.  We are looking for a title for this song so please share your thoughts if you have any after looking at the lyrics below.

“O Son of Being! Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.” ~ Baha’u'llah

Meeting Ali in Haifa, Israel for the first time - April 2011

This is a blog I posted some time back but because I received some positive feedback about it, I am re-posting it.  I would love to hear your thoughts:

I have been pondering the subject of tests and difficulties lately and wanted to share some thoughts with you.

In this life, anything that gives us an opportunity to detach is a gift because the purpose of life is to advance on the path of detachment. The more detached we are, the closer we are to God and the more attached we are to anything other than God, the farther we are away from Him. What is important is how we react to life’s events and particularly to difficulties that we face. Tests don’t come to us by chance. “They are sent to us… for our own perfecting” writes Abdu’l-Baha. The significance of our lives is not found in the events of the physical world, but rather in how we use the challenges and opportunities that life presents for our spiritual development.  And once we are given a test, if we keep failing, it returns once again with greater force until we pass it!

Personally I find that when I have challenges, I take refuge in my music – either playing the piano, composing or singing. It takes me to another realm and brings me such calm and fulfillment and allows my spirit to soar. And interestingly, those are the times that I create some of the best melodies.  It’s like traveling to a different world where I’m surrounded only with music – it definitely uplifts my soul and brings me more clarity and perspective on life.  I know everyone handles their challenges differently. I would love to know what methods you use and what uplifts you when you have difficulties.

Quote of the Day:

”We should not, however, forget that an essential characteristic of this world is hardship and tribulation and that it is by overcoming them that we achieve our moral and spiritual development…sorrow is like furrows, the deeper they go, the more plentiful is the fruit we obtain.” – Shoghi Effendi

“We must always look ahead and seek to accomplish in the future what we may have failed to do in the past.  Failures, tests, and trials, if we use them correctly, can become the means of purifying our spirits, strengthening our characters, and enable us to rise to greater heights of service.” – Shoghi Effendi

My daughter Amelia and I have been working on a project lately.  For awhile I’ve wanted to do a rough recording of some prayers and Baha’i Writings that we have been singing together every night at bedtime for the last few years.  I felt this would be a lovely memory for her to keep for the future and to remind her of the melodies we have sung daily.  It truly has been precious to be able to sing with Amelia since she was a toddler.  We have now built a repertoire of many pieces that we love singing at home and for friends.

We decided to record 9 pieces that we enjoy singing the most and have put one of them below so you can listen to it.  It is entitled, ‘Love is the Light’ by SKY (they kindly gave us permission to put it on the blog – do check out their website for more music as they are 3 very talented women)!  We also sing prayers composed by JBEckl & Eric Dozier, Rose-Marie Peterson and Jack Lenz and Doug Cameron.  All are sung a cappella.

Here is the song ‘Love is the Light’:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Below is a simple design for the CD disc!  I haven’t decided what to put them in yet though.  As we only printed a few, I’ve been day-dreaming about making the covers either with cloth or hand-making them the envelopes with paper. When Amelia saw the disc today she was so surprised.  I don’t think she expected them to look so lovely.

I look forward to doing a more professional recording with Amelia in a real studio sometime in the future to share with everyone.

I recently returned from a rejuvenating, spiritual, joyous and meditative journey at the Baha’i World Centre in Israel. The renovation of the dome of the Shrine of the Bab was recently completed and was a beautiful sight to see. I took a few photos of my time there and wanted to share them here.  I also spent some time visiting with my sister who works there and my parents were able to join us from Kenya also!

One of my highlights of the trip was a musical evening at my sister’s home.  We shared some prayers and sang together on the guitar.  The music added so much spirit to the evening.  Another highlight was meeting talented musician, Ali Youssefi, who also sang some of his compositions that evening on the guitar.  We will be collaborating on some new music together soon.

I feel so privileged to have been able to enjoy the beauty of the Shrines and gardens and the serene atmosphere of one of my favorite places anywhere.

This is the last day of the Baha’i festival of Ridvan and I wanted to share a gift of music with you to celebrate this joyous occasion.

We’ve been working on many songs from my different projects.  Although I haven’t released any Baha’i inspired songs lately, I’ve been working on several of them.  In the last couple of years I’ve been composing songs for a CD on the theme of detachment and am waiting to finish my current projects before I start working on recording these new songs.  However, this particular piece I’m working on, ‘My Love is My Stronghold’, is being contributed to a new CD entitled ‘Music for Devotions’ that will be released very soon.  Now that we’re working in person more, Jarome and I were able to work on the cello part together and I’m pleased he was able to produce the song for this project. Cello was performed by Yoad Nir.

I particularly like this passage from Baha’u'llah as it reminds me of how love is like a fortress and how our love for God is our protection.  It’s also a wonderful reminder not to get caught up with the distractions of life as that becomes perilous for our souls and our growth.  I would love to hear what it means to you.

You can listen to the song below and can download it on the gifts page.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

If you are on my mailing list, you would have already received the link to download the song.  If not, please click here to register for the free song.

Enjoy!