SINGING & SELF
BLOG
Fluidity
Remember: fluidity. Explore this. When I find myself "all over the place", can I settle in and do some breathing and examine: what is in my way right now? What do I not wish to accept? Where is the discomfort? Where do I feel it in my body? Can I soften in that place,...
Not my job/My job
Not my job/My job, Jana Philipp (artwork) 2021 This week has been one of much contemplation, reflection, emotional work and release. I am on beautiful Salt Spring Island visiting my eldest daughter at her home in the middle of a red cedar rainforest. Surrounded by the...
Loss and gain
Don't judge me for my artwork. My mind was a bit of a blank this week as I considered what I wanted to post about. As sometimes happens, I'm mining my week's experiences for a theme and coming up empty, when suddenly something someone says gives me the clue I've been...
Truth, be told
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=h8_hmh6l-Lo Today, Thursday, September 30, 2021, is the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. Today, and ongoing, we as people who live on this land we call Canada--known for centuries as Turtle...
This is the VOICE
The past few weeks I've been riveted by this new book by New Yorker writer John Colapinto, who takes a deep dive here into all things related to the voice. It's truly fascinating stuff. But I'm particularly enthralled by the second last chapter, "Swan Song", where he...
We meet again
My bags are packed, I'm ready to go. I'm about to meet my new crop of students--always an exciting time of year. But this time, of course, it feels much different; there's a whiff of change in the air because, yes! We get to MEET AGAIN. In person. In a group. It feels...
Just. Breathe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXMwViRUd-c John Roedel reads The Anatomy of Peace Shout-out today (and apologies for the two-week absence...just been busy with other things and kept losing the thread) to poet John Roedel, who feels like something of a muse for these...
Thirsty Thursdays
Not that I want to glorify the consumption of alcohol when it pertains to music-making (or anything else, for that matter!), but a general swig of bourbon when making yourself vulnerable in front of a new musical companion...well...it doesn't hurt. Last night I...
New tricks
Four Aces: Yasss I'm rewriting my course syllabus. This task, usually fairly straightforward, with a few revisions each time--some larger, some smaller--seems monumental this year. I feel like I need to rethink it all. Here's the thing: Sometimes those of us who have...
Time out
I'm taking a much needed time out for the next ten days, so won't be posting until July 30th again. I'm going to settle in to the state of mind at the bottom of my Apple Watch: NO MORE EVENTS. I'm going to hang with my family, indulge in afternoon naps, journal when I...
Me and my uke
My new friend, the ukulele (July 2021) Funny how doing something new can give you an enlarged perspective. Last week, I was the lucky recipient of a new ukulele (on loan) from my colleague, Deanna Yerichuk, coordinator of the undergraduate concentration in Community...
Cry, my beloved country
Canada Day 2021: Reversal It's hard to reflect on much else today besides #the215 #the182 and #the 751. We know there will be many more; Indigenous folk have been telling us the same for decades. Why were we not listening? But now our eyes, ears and hearts are open...
Improvising my way back home
I started practicing again this week. It felt scary and unfamiliar because I had left it for a while, but I thought I'd find my way back to it by doing some vocal improvisation--something that doesn't come naturally to me. It's not that I don't like it, just that it...
The voices of #the215
This week has been so full of pain. As an artist, a singer, a storyteller by craft, I feel compelled to call upon the stories, the voices of #the215 children lost to the horrendous legacy of residential schools in our country. We now know that these children are just...
