I recently met a talented lyricist on Facebook.  We clicked immediately and he sent some of his inspirational work which fascinated me.  Creating lyrics have not been my strength so I was thrilled to be able to collaborate with him on a few songs where the lyrics come so naturally to him.  I recently asked if he would write a song for children on the theme of prayer and he graciously accepted.  

I haven’t created many children’s songs but have felt a real need for them especially in regards to teaching children’s classes.  In the Ruhi Book 3, Grade 2 children’s class book, there are 3 lessons on the theme of prayer but no songs to accompany them.  When teaching the class last year, I remember feeling at a loss in finding an appropriate song.  So I asked the children to compose the lyrics and create their own song!  It was so sweet to listen to them.  Since then I’ve wanted to compose songs especially for this book which has wonderful themes on service, prayer, consultation and more…  I hope to create more songs soon with the help of my new friend. :)

For now, here is the song composed on the theme of prayer entitled ‘When we Pray’ with lyrics by Farshid Kamali.  Please feel free to download it for your children’s classes by clicking on the link below:

My Glimmerings CD is finally available!  Thanks to those of you who have been waiting patiently for its release.  It has definitely been an exciting yet challenging process releasing this CD which I have written about in another blog.

I feel tremendously relieved that the CD is complete especially since it was quite a difficult task to record the pieces.  I have written about how it was one of the most challenging CDs for me to record on another blog.

What is unique about Glimmerings is that the titles of the songs tell a beautiful story of a soul’s spiritual journey.  I can’t wait for you to read the liner notes – it was beautifully written by my hubby (shhh – please don’t tell him I told you!) :)

For my 200th blog, I shared a gift of the song ‘Reflection’ from ‘Glimmerings’.  If you haven’t downloaded it yet, please see the details on the blog for your free gift.

When the factory delivered the ‘goods’ a few days ago, I felt overwhelmed with joy and almost kissed the workman who was loading the boxes into our entrance! :) It was truly a fantastic moment!

The season of Baha’i fasting has just begun and today is the first of 19 days from sunrise to sunset.  It is a time of personal reflection, prayer, meditation and spiritual recuperation during which time we look at our lives and reflect on how we can strive to better ourselves in the next year.

Today I was thinking about some of the spiritual music I have released and one piece came to mind because it was recorded during the fasting period.  The Hallowed Beauty, a piece from the CD – Fire and Gold, was recorded during this special period and I remember feeling quite daunted at first to sing while fasting.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat or drink water and while recording one’s vocals must be kept lubricated.  But I knew there was a special spirit during the fast and I wanted to take advantage of that.  I was surprised that my voice flowed for the song even after two to three hours of singing and I felt so spiritually rejuvenated.  I still remember the special feeling of recording the song and how in awe I felt during the process and especially afterwards.  My body was exhausted but my mind and my spirit were fully charged!

The Hallowed Beauty:

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“…fasting is the supreme remedy and the most great healing for the disease of self and passion.” ~ Baha’u'llah

In just less than a week, Baha’is all around the world celebrate Ayyam-i-Ha which is a time of bringing cheer to others, visiting the poor and needy and giving gifts.  One of the ways I like to celebrate is by giving Ayyam-i-Ha cards to show my love for my friends and family.

Last year, during the festival of Ayyam-i-Ha, I composed a song specially for the occasion. You can watch the video and listen to it here. For those of you in China, you can watch the video on youku.  I have recorded the song in Chinese as well (let me know if you want me to email you a rough copy) and the lyrics are below in both languages and pin yin:

These are the Days Of Ha     这荣耀的日子啊     Zhe Rongyao de Rizi a
Given by Baha’u'llah     它来自巴哈欧拉     Ta Laizi Baha’u’llah
Time for joy and happiness     尘世的欢歌会消逝     Chenshi de Huange hui Xiaoshi
These precious days are blessed     这福佑永不绝     Zhe Fuyou yong bu jue

Chorus: Happy Ayyam-i-Ha x4    开心阿亚密哈     Kaixin Ayyam-i-Ha
Acts of charity, hospitality     慷慨地给予，并不会失去     Kangkai de Geiyu, Bing Buhui Shiqu

Giving each other gifts     分享即富有     Fenxiang ji Fuyou
Visiting the poor and needy     你要善待陌生的人     Ni Yao Shandai Mosheng de ren
Friends and family     唤醒他的心     Huanxing Ta de Xin

Chorus:  Happy Ayyam-i-Ha  x4   开心阿亚密哈     Kaixin Ayyam-i-Ha

A time of cheer, a time of joy     云上的欢歌，地上的花朵     Yunshang de Huange, Dishang de Huaduo,
A spiritual preparation     啊灵魂  在生长     A Linghun, zai Shengzhang
Time for celebration     我们在感恩     Wo’men zai Gan’en

Chorus:   Happy Ayyam-i-Ha x4     开心阿亚密哈     Kaixin Ayyam-i-Ha
Time of joy and happiness     今日的欢歌永难忘     Jinri de Huange Yong Nan Wang
Happy Ayyam-i-Ha     开心阿亚密哈     Kaixin Ayyam-i-Ha

The need for patience has been a recurring theme in my life lately.  The release of Glimmerings has been delayed once again.  In fact several deadlines have come and gone and we are still waiting to share it with you.  In December, we sent the CD discs to be duplicated.  That process went very smoothly so I was hopeful the project would be completed by my first deadline – beginning of January! The issues began at the second factory where the cover and CD jacket had to be laminated and pressed.  Apparently a special glue is required to make sure the plastic (that holds the CD disc) sticks firmly without running on the CD jacket.  Because we want a glossy cover, the factory was having additional challenges finding the particular glue that would work without making a huge mess!  The factory tried several kinds of glue and each one either failed to stick or looked appalling!  They are still working on it…

Another issue with the printing of the CD jacket was the paper warping (It is made from thick paper, not the old plastic CD cases) and no matter what the factory did, they couldn’t resolve it.  So they decided to start afresh and make a second printing of all the covers to see if they could fix the problem.  By now we had missed the second deadline – January 10 – and with the onset of Chinese New Year, I knew we would have to wait an extra month or more as most (if not all) factories go on holiday at this time of year – the biggest holiday in China!  I was disappointed at first especially since I had my heart set on sharing the CDs with friends and family by a certain date.  But what helped was knowing that I couldn’t control the situation (patience & detachment). It was out of my hands and deep down I knew it would all work out in its own time (faith)!  I had made a decision and had chosen a certain company to work on manufacturing it and couldn’t pull out in the middle (loyalty).  What also helped was realizing that there wasn’t anything magical about the date, January 10 (flexibility)!

So now a month later, factories are starting to open and the workers are experimenting with the glue once again.  We may have to change the gloss lamination to a matt one instead to resolve some of the issues.  I have managed to stay calm throughout the process and not to blame anyone for the challenges with the details of putting all the pieces together.  It has been a long ‘labour’ (perseverance) but well worth it as I wait expectantly to hold ‘Glimmerings’ in my hands!  Looking forward to sharing some good news about its release very soon…

I can’t believe this is my 200th blog! Quite an achievement for someone who is not a writer! I remember my producer telling me that part of having a website was to blog and tell my friends about what I’m doing and what projects I’m involved with musically.  I was so daunted by the idea of writing – not only writing – but writing about myself.  How does one write about one’s projects, ideas and thoughts without focusing overly upon the ‘self’.  I have come to terms with one thing which has helped a lot.  Remembering why I started music in the first place – it’s what I love to do and if it’s able to transform souls and uplift others, then I have accomplished what I set out to do.  There are times that I observe different paths that other musicians are taking but I try to always bear in mind what is my goal and purpose.

For my 100th blog, I gave a gift of music called ‘Rose of Love’ and for the 200th blog, I’d like to share another gift from my upcoming CD, ‘Glimmerings’ (a piano instrumental CD) entitled ‘Reflection’.  Thank you for joining me and supporting me in all my projects.

You can listen to ‘Reflection’ below:

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Please feel free to download it and share it with your friends using the link below:
http://www.elikamahony.com/music/gifts