Two years ago I saw this print in a shop window in Shanghai, China, and it instantly shouted to me, “Wake up!”
I think a lot of people spent this year in a state of some uncertainty, when everything seemed to go away, and when we didn’t know if it would come back. Maybe we began to ask ourselves what we already possessed that could sustain us, when our normal occupations and pre-occupations were no longer possible or suitable.
I feel all around me, as we emerge, people waking up to the transformative power of kindness and of caring.
What would this world be like if we each woke up to this inherent capacity for kindness?
Now that we are vaccinated, we can go out and do things we want to do, things we value. And for many of us that means we can listen to live music again. We can sit in a room together and be touched by the invisible waves of sound bridging the distance between us. We can tap our feet, or visualize something beautiful, or marvel at how much is expressed and imagined and felt in this wordless language.
Our beloved Lilypad has survived, mostly because the heroic owner, Gill Aaron, lives there. His adorable children had a big playroom all year!
Now this treasured venue is roaring back. Gill has offered me the first Wednesday of each month. However the hour of our set has been changed. From now on we are an early-bird-special jazz gig. (Yes, we are getting older!) We will play from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. If you are willing, afterwards we can go out to one of the many restaurants in Inman Square where the club is located.
So please mark your calendars for the summer and fall, right through December.
The first Wednesday of each month – at 6:30. We never draw a big crowd, so if you are nervous about being inside with others, I am fairly certain that there will be plenty of room for social distancing. Still, we are encouraging hugs and believe, as we have been told, that the vaccines have made us safe for now.
The blue man with the fiery lips and three eyes above is named Mahakala. In Tibetan Buddhism he is a protector deity existing eternally within the nature of consciousness: residing within us, dispelling obstacles, waking us up, so that Avalokiteshvara, the goddess of compassion, who also resides within, can shine forth.
Shine on,
bert