Electric & Acoustic Cellist, Vocalist and Composer
CURRENT PROJECTS
Asian Elephant Project | Poetry Concerts and Workshops | Being with Dying Workshops
THE ASIAN ELEPHANT PROJECT
Home again. It has been quite the journey: coming home. I have been back in the states almost a month now and am still catching up and trying to hold onto the stillness that I experienced in Thailand. I have a few more writings that I wish to share (see below), and eventually, we will get more photos of my Thailand experience up on the website. I am so grateful to the people at the Thai Elephant Center, Richard Lair, Galen Garwood, Agu, the elephants and mahouts, and all who crossed my path in Thailand to make my journey as rich as it was.
One of the last images that crossed my path, as I was getting ready to leave Lampang, Thailand, is described below. It has since filled my heart with such joy. I search for other moments like this to help me through the craziness of life. They are here. They are waiting to be noticed.
February 11th
I was walking to the internet cafe this afternoon. A family of three rode by on their motorbike--dad in the front, mom in the back, and their daughter of about 5 years old sandwiched in between. The young girl was standing on the seat with arms outstretched and she had this huge smile as the wind blew her hair. Freedom. Flight. Childhood joy.
Like this young girl with outstretched arms, I have experienced joy, like ecstasy, here. Uncontained. Where a day lasts a year. When all there is, is the moment.
January 28th
All I hear are prayers. All I hear are simple melodies and thoughts. It is like life here. A rainstorm...the crickets and frogs at night...an elephant walking...getting up in the morning to greet the day...the monks singing in unison the chants that are ritually sung all over the country... no harmony...nothing too complex. Every note that I play has images tied to the elephant. I am starting to envision an endless musical stream that flows from one piece to another.
I played a simple melody today and the working title is "Anybody Out There?" It was inspired by a book that I am reading, The White Bone, by Barbara Gowdy, as well as by my experience here. In the book, the elephants are in search of their tribe after a slaughter where most were killed and the rest scattered in different directions. They experience a constant longing for one another, and for the place they call the Safe Place that is mythical and comes to them in visions and dream. It is a heart-wrenching story. Even as I write this, I am crying, thinking of the elephants that I have come to love so much, feeling at such a loss. So, that searching and longing found it's way into a simple melody where as I played it, I listened mostly to the space in between the notes. That is where the response would be to the calling. That is where the answer is held. I can feel it all so deeply.