Here is a sneak peek of one of the pages within the quotation book that we compiled in Birds of Love.  I love how all the paintings are Chinese illustrations and each page has a different, elegant painting.   Since I have a passion for art, in preparing for Birds of Love, I so enjoyed the mingling of music combined with art as well as the collection of beautiful quotations to create a unique package.  Below is the second page of the book which has the lyrics of one of the songs on the CD, ‘Where there is Love’.  We thought about every detail such as the quality and thickness of the paper, the gloss on the pages to bring out the vivid colors in the paintings as well as the gold lettering on the first letter of each quote.  To see more paintings in the book, you can view the video for the Birds of Love gift set.

The first song I composed for the CD, ‘Birds of Love‘ was the title song itself.   This is how the composition came to pass… One of my dearest friends was getting married in our home and had asked me to sing something at her wedding.  At the time I had no idea what would be appropriate.  I didn’t really have anything in my repertoire on marriage and many of the songs I knew or composed were in the minor key and not very joyful.

It was about a month before the wedding and I remember thinking what a great idea it would be to surprise her!  I decided to set a beautiful quotation on the theme of marriage to music and practiced diligently for the wedding day.   Two days before the wedding, I caught a cold and didn’t think I would be able to sing the song at my friend’s wedding.  I had spent so much time working on the song and developing it and didn’t want to let her down but what choice did I have?  The day before the wedding was the rehearsal and I was so torn about singing and had made up my mind that I wouldn’t be able to perform.  I had made a recording of the song with rough vocals and thought that we could just play that instead of singing live.  That felt like a feasible solution.  A friend who was in charge of the program just would not have it!  He told me outright that I had to sing!  No ifs or buts about it… even if my voice was not top quality – he told me it would touch my friend deeply even if I had half a voice.  It was not about the performance but the thought and the gift itself of standing in front of my dear friends and singing for them no matter how I sounded.  It definitely took a lot of courage and faith to follow through and go ahead with it.  I’m pleased to say that I was very happy with the performance and that my voice actually came through. :)

You can hear ‘Birds of Love’ by clicking here.  I look forward to sharing more about the piece itself in another blog.

Quote of the Day: “Wherefore, wed thou, in the heaven of Thy mercy these two birds of the nest of Thy love and make them the means of attracting perpetual grace, that from the union of these two seas of love, a wave of tenderness may surge and cast the pearls of pure and goodly issue on the shore of life.”
~‘Abdu’l-Bahá

As you may have heard, we have started making a video for the song ‘Where There is Love’ from my latest release ‘Birds of Love’.  We have been collecting photos and video footage for the project.  Since the theme is about love and weddings, we are looking for photos of couples on their wedding day.  The photos we are choosing are unique in that they are taken at sunset or unusual light.  If you have any photos or a lovely clip of a video of your wedding that you would like us to consider, please contact me.  We are featuring diversity in the video and love reflected in different ages and backgrounds.  We will choose the ones that are most suitable for the video.  I look forward to sharing more about how the video progresses in future posts.

A friend of mine recently asked what makes a healthy and successful marriage.  This is a huge topic and one which has fascinated me for a long time.   I was going to write one blog on the topic and realized that one could write a book on the subject and barely scratch the surface.  So I’ve decided to share a few thoughts in this blog and explore further in future ones.

Let me start by saying that I’m not a marriage therapist or counselor but over the last few years I have enjoyed asking older couples who have been married for many years for their tips, and I have been a listening ear to dear friends who have had challenges in their lives and marriages and through listening, observing, being a trusted friend and from my own marital experience, I feel I have learned lots!   I would like to share some of the things I’ve learned from them and my own personal experiences.

On the way to our honeymoon, my husband and I sat on the plane next to a gentleman who after hearing we just got married asked, ‘Are you happy or married?’  I remember laughing and thinking what a silly question that was…  It’s a question that I’ve never forgotten because of its oddity but also because he assumed that we can’t be happy and married at the same time!  Of course it’s possible, it just takes a great deal of work. :)

The quality that stands out for me in contributing to a healthy marriage is kindness.  It is inevitable in a marriage to have conflict and the way that we address one another when we are in a state of anger or defensiveness is of utmost importance.  I know that it takes practice to develop tact and wisdom in what we say but when we remember that our words have an effect for a lifetime,  we will be more wary and cautious about what we say and how we say it.  It’s easy for me to be kind when I’m happy with my husband, but of course it’s much harder when there is conflict.  I find it is more challenging to remain calm and collected with my words but I find that over the years I’ve learned to be more disciplined in the use of my tone, language, tact and patience.  It may be tempting to fire back in moments with reactive statements but when we pause and think first before we speak and ask ourselves, ‘Is what I’m about to say kind?  Is it true and is it necessary?’ then respond.  The other question we might ask before using our words is ‘Will it bring me closer to my spouse or will it hurt us further?’  I’m sure our response will be more dignified, more tactful, kind and more thoughtful, and ultimately more effective if we pause and reflect first.

What have you found has been helpful in making your marriage healthy and happy? What have you found has been detrimental? I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Quotes of the Day:

“There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.” ~ Martin Luther (published in Birds of Love gift set)

“Kind words are the music of the world.  They have a power which seems to be beyond natural causes, as though they were some angel’s song which had lost its way and come to earth.” ~ Frederick William Faber

Today I had a great time making the finishing touches on 3 of the handmade cards for orders I received for the Birds of Love limited edition. Creating the specialty cards for the limited edition has truly been a joy. The process is an exciting and lengthy one as I make them from scratch. Each card is unique as there are no two that are alike. I never know what it will look like till the end so I enjoy the process of discovering how the creation will unfold. I use a simple technique with paint to make them and once they’re dry I mount them on gold paper with a quote from Abdu’l-Baha from the Birds of Love book. The quote is: ‘What a power is love! It is the most wonderful, the greatest of all living powers.’ What inspires me is beauty and adorning these precious words with dignity so I wanted the cards to be unique in their style and design. Here is a photo of a few of them that I sent out today for someone who plans on giving the Birds of Love gift set to his wife on their 30th anniversary! For more info on the limited edition click on this link.

I am excited to share with you a new video that was made by my label, prosoul, about our most recent release, Birds of Love.  We wanted to make a video to show more details of the Birds of Love gift set which includes a CD and book.  We realized that just describing it and showing pictures didn’t do it justice and felt that a video would best capture the essence of the project (short of actually seeing it in person).   The Birds of Love gift set is intended as a meaningful gift for any occasion.  It has been used as a gift for weddings, anniversaries, visiting a friend’s home, Valentine’s day gift, or simply to a loved one.  I would like to thank Felisha Matthew for her assistance in the making of the video.

Enjoy the video and please share this link with others.

Birds of Love Box Gift Set demo video link