Monday, December 31, 2012

No. 214: When We Decide



When we decide
Life and Love are Paramount
In the development of Voice
Suddenly things seem upside-down:
What is the purpose of Song?

When we dare to look and live deeper
Than how we've been told
All the little details, 
The technical Musts and Explanations
Take on a new Context:

Singing becomes more than Art. It becomes HeArt.
And we know WHY we marvel at It so.



Sunday, December 30, 2012

No. 213: The Heart is a Beacon



If we Singers were taught
To believe in a Sound
Which We most definitely, positively, 
Without doubt could find--
Which flows through Us
Like the Breath of Life,
Like Love Itself,

Singing could take on a whole new, conscious meaning.

It could be we are being called by a Heart
Which no longer wants to remain silent.

It could be we are being asked to acknowledge
Just how wonder-full and life-changing organic singing can be.

It could be the Heart which calls us to sing 
Wants much more than our Voice alone:

It wants us to know we are One and The Same
With the Stuff of Music's Ecstasy.

THIS is Life. 
THIS is Love.

THIS is Opera Organically.





Saturday, December 29, 2012

No. 212: A Wondrous Thing



It is a Wondrous Thing, to be connected to Voice.

It is a Wondrous Thing, to know That Which Loves Us Deeply Through Song.


THIS is Life.
THIS is Love.
THIS is Opera Organically.





No. 211: Which Way to Go



The power which becomes available to the singer as she realizes the full impact of Voice (the mirror to her inner Self) can be overwhelming.

It is easy to be seduced away from the Truth, from this Deep Power which Voice shows us, this low-running hum of Life that enriches every moment when we let It.

Every instant as a Singer I have a choice:  to walk the road the outside world seems to wish for me, or the One of Inner Mystery where Love is All There Is, and everything I do and am is singing.  

Choosing this path, I know I am LIFE.  I am LOVE.  I am OPERA ORGANICALLY. 



Thursday, December 27, 2012

No. 210: On Choices



It is nearly impossible to choose a reality we do not know about, or that we are afraid of believing in.

Opera Organically proclaims: 

Singing CAN feel amazing, fulfilling, real, true, authentic, loving, and ecstatic.
Singing is about MUCH MORE than "correctness", "rightness", and traditional definitions of "beauty".
From a perspective that is much deeper than surface judgements, Voice is ever-present, ever-living, ever-nourishing, and infinitely POSSIBLE.

This is Life.  
This is Love.

This is Opera Organically.

Living the Mystery this Holiday Season...

Love,

Becca

Friday, December 14, 2012

No. 209: On Definitions




We do not define Voice.
IT defines US
Asking, in the silent shadows of song:
Will you come with me?  Will you come?
Will you walk with me, as One?
Will you breathe in deep
and know that I am There
Where You Are?

THIS is Life.
THIS is Love.

THIS is Opera Organically.


No. 208: In response to recent shootings



...How can singing Chang the World?  Imagine: a gunwo/man, SEEN and HEARD as a child--ALLOWED to SING with all her HeART, to pour out all the grief and pain and sorrow and anger and frustration and hate into MUSE-IC, rather than turn it into herself.  WHAT WILL THIS TAKE?  It will take a society courageous enough to LET GO of snap judgements, of easy definitions of what's "right" and "wrong", "good" and "bad".  It will take artists willing to STAND UP as leaders to PROCLAIM the FREEDOM which music and art bring us in life.  It will take humanity ac-KNOWLEDGE-ing that Life's Blood pours through us in multiple ways, and that to deny a child certain means of expression can be downright dangerous.  We can listen to children NOW, TODAY--the children who are still children in body, and the children in each of us--and ask: What might this soul have to sing...?  And in honoring each song, whatever form it takes, we CAN create a more peaceful world.  

THIS is Life.  THIS is Love.  THIS is Opera Organically!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

No. 207: Quote of the Day, and a Thanksgiving Note




There's No Going Back
"Being an Evolutionary, I don't think going back to the way things used to be could ever be an appropriate response to the rapid and significant change that we're all in the midst of today. In fact, there is no going back. Evolution is a moving train. Cosmic evolution, biological evolution, and cultural evolution are all going somewhere new. The worldspace that we all share and co-create—whether we live in the foothills of the Himalayas or the busy streets of Manhattan—is part of a global movement and a powerful ongoing process of change. We're all living in a very special time. It's a time when this profound evolutionary development can be felt and seen more palpably and more tangibly than ever before."
—Andrew Cohen


Dear Friends,

...On this Thanksgiving Eve, I give thanks that, moving forward, we can create a reality together where ALL are free to express themselves through "HeArt". I embrace the future, and stand in awe of what will come!Happy Thanksgiving from Opera Organically!


~Your Rebecca


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

No. 206: Growing into Voice




Voice is not just something we study.
Voice is something we grow in-, up-, down- and out- to.
Like a tree has no idea how it will be each new year
Until it touches a different corner of the sky,
We singers can delight in how Voice calls us 
To stretch, and dance, and feel our Way
Into more and more completeness.

Opera Organically IS this Journey of growth--collective and individual.  

THIS is Life.
THIS is Love.

THIS is Opera Organically.








Saturday, November 17, 2012

No. 205: The Singer Knows S/he Knows...



The Singer knows S/he knows Opera Organically
When walking the path of Voice
Feels 
Like drinking the Water of Life
And eating the Fruit of Love.

THIS is Life.
THIS is Love.
THIS is Opera Organically 


Monday, November 5, 2012

No. 204: What if...?



What if the fame/mania of our culture is a mask for a much deeper human need?

What if what we really want is not just to SING and BE FAMOUS, but to LIVE in a way which is thrilling, meaningful, celebrated, adulated, honored, set apart, special, unique, all-powerful, gorgeous, intense, fulfilling, scintillating, blessed, and all together wonderful?

Living Opera Organically is about knowing that Voice, the Voice we crave--the Voice we want to sing with the rest of our lives whether rich, poor, sick, healthy, sad, happy, captive, or free--is ALWAYS ACCESSIBLE, ALWAYS PRESENT, always ALL the things we "want" to be.  

When a singer knows this, s/he has realized the truth of something much bigger than any individual.  S/he has realized the true power of singing, of connection, of life, of LOVE.

THIS is Opera Organically.
THIS is Life.
THIS is Love.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

No. 203: On the "Spewage of True Experience"



One of the reasons I believe so few of us
reach the place where we know
beyond the shadow of a doubt
that we have found our True Voices 
is that we are often taught
that to express the distress we can feel
as singing students is unacceptable,
unprofessional, and not at all 
a part of the process 
of emptying OurSelves to make space
for Voice.

I say quite the opposite.

In fact, herewith I SCREAM 
in the most 'unacceptable' expression of Voice
that any and all spewage of True Experience
which carves out a new expanse 
in the space of Mind, Heart,
and Voice, is not only acceptable,
it's welcome for eternity.
For ETERNAL is the kind of Art
we CAN give Voice to, the kind of Art 
 we CAN sing.

How can we sing of the stuff 
that makes us human
if we deny 
even
One
Part 
of 
US? 

Singers around the world, we are doing much more
than making pretty sounds.

We are changing the world, inside and out.

Our singing is not antiquated or separate 
from what it is to be human.

Our singing, because of its very transformative nature,
is making us MORE and MORE human 
until, one day, we experience Voice
in a Way Which blurs all boundaries between us,
transcends all ideas of judgement,
and offers a permanent place
where Voice,
whole and real, and absolutely free,
smiles, lovingly, at the WE
who used to
deny It.


Monday, October 1, 2012

No. 202: The Greatest Challenge



The Greatest Challenge
in the Singer's Life
is to Take Responsibility
for ALL that has come
to Her and through Her 
on the path to Voice.

This can be HARD

As we wonder at the Purpose
hiding behind the hell
of swallowed Voice,
the sweat and the tears
which lead to a Freedom
that seems to've been taken away.

Why is this Taking Responsibility
Important?
Why NOT live in a world 
of victimhood where Voice
has been "taken away"?

Why NOT live as a "Non-Singer" 
even as the longing to sing
pulses just beyond
the despair lodged in our throats?

Because
WE MUST CLAIM OUR POWER
in order to change the World
from a place where it is possible
to destroy Voice
to a place where Voice
is honored, treasured, and 
fully, holistically, understood.

We must say, with all our Be-ing:
THERE IS ANOTHER WAY
and it IS POSSIBLE to choose It!

This shift from victimhood
happens as we singers proclaim
what we WANT, in our deepest Hearts:

Freedom, Sincerity,
Hope, Joy, BLISS,
Energy, Aliveness, Good-Will,
Purpose, Connection,
Belief, Understanding,
Compassion, LOVE.

We want to SING!
...and, most of all,
to know that we have been singing
all along...
especially
when we thought 
we couldn't
or shouldn't
or never ever
would.

Taking responsibility for every Voiceless Moment
in our Lives
allows us to see Voice
even in choked Silence.

THIS VOID IS WHERE TRANSFORMATION BEGINS.

The floodgates begin to crack
Hearts open
once retracted
and LOVE POURS THROUGH
as sounds of human divinity.

THIS is Life,
THIS is Love.
THIS is Opera Organically!




Friday, September 28, 2012

No. 201: This Amazing Moment




...I feel as if I must be the luckiest Woman in the world!  
My heart is bursting with life, with passion and possibility that is OURS...
part and parcel of being imPerfectly Human, 
beautifully insignificant and infinitely power-full, all at once!  
Thank the Universe for Voice, 
which opens hearts and minds, souls and eyes to the depths of what it means to be US.  
Allowing this exquisite Experience of Love into our lives is so rewarding, I am speechless...
*VOICE FINDS ME THE TRUEST IN SILENCE*
..........who will come hang in bliss with me, 
at the precipice of the Future, 
in this amazing Moment?


THIS is Opera Organically.
THIS is Life.
THIS is Love.

~Rebecca

Thursday, September 27, 2012

No. 200: A Guidepost Most Clear-- a Dedication



Singing is Bliss.  Bliss is Singing.  

When we have the courage and the hope to acknowledge this, something very beautiful happens: 
A Journey
Where we do not stop until we realize the very Truth of Bliss in our Voices.

The special, secret thing about singing
is that ONLY THE SINGER KNOWS if they are experiencing Bliss.

Oh, yes, Bliss can be pretended,
But True Bliss cannot comprehend an empty lie.

Bliss is A Guidepost Most Clear
because without IT we are always searching, always searching.

Only a Teacher Who points us back toward Ourselves
Can help us achieve This Bliss.

Only a Teacher Who knows Bliss in Singing 
Can show us 
Where to find
Our Own.

When the Singer knows the "God-awful Truth" (it is "God-awful" to the World, for very few know how to cherish a "selfish", life-giving action)  that we sing as much for our own pleasure:
for the Bathing-of-Us-in-Almost-Unbearable-Love...as for others' delight,
there may be a Moment of Confusion
When
She sits
In awe
wondering why
she was taught
that singing was about touching other people...
...when All Other People
are already IN
this Bliss
of Song...??

True vocal technique taught
with life-changing depth and power
carves out such Space in the Singer
that the Whole World 
suddenly
resides in Her Heart.

And when She listens to It
She knows
This Heart is not only her own...

It is not only her own! 

THIS is Opera Organically.



This, my "No.200" Post, is dedicated to Kashu-do, The Way of the Singer.  
May more and more singers learn how to Change the World through Song! 

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

No. 199: The Chiaroscuro of Opera Organically



...just like a trained Voice, the Singer's life is full of light and dark: chiaro and oscuro.  The balance between these two sides of singing, these two sides of life, only comes when we are willing to live and love the TOTALITY of what is means to sing, to be, and to live.  
This is Opera Organically.  
This is Life.  
This is Love.  

Monday, September 17, 2012

No. 198: On Singing Organically


Singing organically is ECSTATIC.  
It's BLISS-FULL, FANTASTIC!
It's FREEING, it's BE-ing
AMAZING, it's...PLAYING...!
ENLIGHTENING, DELIGHT-ENING...
and really only FRIGHTENING...when we think
we are separate 
from the Stuff
we hear calling
US
on this GORGEOUS COURSE 
of BEAUTY,
ALL-LOVING,
ALL-EXPERIENCE-ENCOMPASSING!
This JOURNEY,
this FLIGHT,
is a constant FLOW OF LIGHT!
So join me, Friend, where YOU have always been
with ME, 
in a Land of Possibility:
where singing is BEING,
and BREATHING,
and BELIEVING,
in OTHERS as much
as  
OURSELVES.
For VOICE
encompasses ALL WE ARE
meaning EVERYONE
and EVERYTHING
when we SEE with the eyes
LISTEN with the ears
TASTE with the tongue
TOUCH with the skin, and
EMOTE with the HE/ART
of LOVE!
Yes, Opera Organically is IN LOVE...
with LIFE, with SINGING, 
with LEARNING and GROWING...!

Friends...........................

let's All meet there!!!

YES YES YES!!! 

(-:~Becca


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

No. 197: To Live Where and How Voice Lives



Dear Friends,

This morning I am more convinced than ever that the Path of a singer is not just about singing.  When we REALLY walk the path: when we find a teacher with the know-how to lead us, through vocal technique, to the Center of Who We Are as singers--when we are willing to experience every challenge and adventure we face on that Path, we eventually look around and find it is the Treasure of LIFE we've been looking for all along.

The experience of being alive has been carved out of my Being by VOICE.  THIS IS THE POWER OF OPERA ORGANICALLY.  THIS is the awakening power of singing.

I believe we are losing music education from schools across the country for the following reason: Song, music, and the making of it has been confused with luxury.  THE EXPERIENCE OF LIVING IS NOT A LUXURY!  IT IS A NECESSITY.

Opera Organically is about shouting out this awareness, this reality.  It's about sending out a primal call to the universe that True Voice, this Entity which connects us all, cannot be silenced.  It's about riding the wave of a passion that flows through us with or without a functioning education system.  It's about the seed of expression lying dormant in EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US.  It's about singing...and SO much more!!

Good, Go(o)d Morning y'all!

Love,

Becca

Monday, September 10, 2012

No. 196: The Stuff of Song




We walk through life so often afraid that we cannot sing,
When all along, 
We are made of the stuff of Song!


Opera Organically is this Path of Discovery.


Much Love this Morning to All,

Rebecca Fromherz

Friday, September 7, 2012

No. 195: Is your mirror painted black?





"Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations."  
~Alan Watts


Friend, have you been told you have a "bad" voice?  Have you adopted this belief to such a degree that you insist upon it?  If this is true for you--even just a little, I propose that you are sitting on a barrel which holds a light that needs to be seen by the world.

You might see It force Its way out in strange places in your life: It is in wild laughter; It's in deep sobs; It is in uncontrollable rage--It can even be in a snore.  Your voice is all around you, and seeing It as "bad" is like looking at yourself in a mirror painted black.

What if the world uncovered Its collective Light of Voice?  What power has been silenced in us as individuals which could heal in ways only It understands?

Dear Ones, this uncovering, this allowing, this BEing, IS Opera Organically.  I am so honored to speak to It!

A Beautiful Morning to All,

(-:~Becca

Thursday, July 19, 2012

No. 195: Student as Teacher Series Part 2. "Singing" in multiple media


One of the greatest honors I have at this time in my life living Opera Organically is to teach a wonderful artist named Donna Henderson.  My teachers have told me tales of singers who are "empty vessels": just ready to be filled with the tools needed to allow their singing Voices the freedom they want to have.  

Donna is living proof that the stuff of singing does not have to be sung: it can be written.  And when it is written in such a way, the bridge to singing is only as wide as the path to muscular strength and technical knowledge.  

Donna has gifted us this piece, and I know it will "sing" to you, as it did so beautifully to me:










There Is a Loneliness


Listen some dusk to the varied thrush
keening its single long, cool note.

This is what the thrush has waited for all day:
the busy light leaving,
shadows slipping home from their exile.
For the spacious

silence that hears it, answers--
a slender bliss you might have thought
despair.

Listen then to your own,
that other
loneliness that is our vast capacity.

You thought it longed for filling.
It longs to sing.










For more of Donna's work, check out her book or contact Opera Organically for more information!







Sunday, June 24, 2012

No.194: What is Opera Organically? It Is All-inclusive





When we consider singing
not as an act which we "can" or "cannot" do
but rather as some Thing, (Voice), which we ARE,
an immense wave of power sweeps us up
and out of any ideas of vocal limitation which may stifle the beauty and truth
of Life-resonating "US".

When Love is present,
where respect and honor are placed paramount,
no One need say they have no Voice...
for as a community, as a culture,
as a family which embraces All Who Are willing to feel the possibility of the seemingly impossible,
songs are not only always present...they carry our thoughts,
our needs, our desires, all our emotions,
our pasts, our presents, and futures,
in a womb of such forgiveness,
of such wild Love and Light and Freedom,
that We would never, EVER dream
of keep such a Thing again silent.



THIS is Opera Organically.



 

Monday, June 18, 2012

No. 193: What is Opera Organically? An Omnipresently Power-Full Community




When we begin to create Community
based not upon one person's tyrannical ideas of "correctness"
but rather on Voice's suggestion of Mystery and Expansiveness,
Intangibility and Elusiveness,
SomeThing magical begins to be sung:
We resonate the Truth of the Ecstasy
of what it means to be nestled in the arms
of omnipresent Beauty, of omnipresent Love.


THIS is Opera Organically.

Monday, June 4, 2012

No. 192: Student as Teacher Series Part 1: "Faith, on Music"





When we acknowledge that Voice Itself is the true authority in learning to sing, and also in teaching, a curious thing happens: teacher and student are both swallowed up in the sound of authenticity they have the honor of celebrating together.

This is my first chance, and it is a very exciting one, to set the words of an Opera Organically student/teacher upon this blog, like a diamond with many sparkling facets, for you all to see.

Please enjoy the heart thoughts of Faith, 17, on music:




Music is the only thing that has sustained me through the long years of my life. It's been my one true companion, never wavering or leaving my side. I've nursed it and given it life, and it's never shown me grief over anything. It's said exactly what I've needed to hear, or listened when I've required that also. After all that I've been through, it's the only place I can call home.

Is music a place, then?

Yes, I do believe it is. It's everywhere and nowhere all at once. It's in the air we breathe, and in the chatter of strangers nearby. There are very few people who can hear the music as I do. Most call it noise, but I recognize it for what it is: music. I can hear the music in every fiber of every living thing. None of it escapes me. It runs through my veins; it's a part of me—of everything! But I've already explained that.

Since I've already explained that music is a place, theoretically, one can visit it. But how would one go about getting there? The answer isn't as difficult as you might think, getting to a place that isn't physically there. All you have to do is close your eyes and be aware of everything and nothing all at once. Listen to the birds trilling, or the laughter of a child. You have to listen to the music you have been given and embrace it.

Even unpleasant things are music, for not all melodies are happy or joyous, now are they? No, they are not. We all are aware of such things. And yet, we seem to shy away from the sad melodies that music plays, in favor of lighter ones, save for when we are in the lowest pits of despair ourselves. All music is beautiful, but not everyone can see it.

We've trapped it and conformed it to help ourselves comprehend it, but it cannot be fully comprehended. Nothing so large ever can be completely understood. But we've attempted to do so, and in trying, we have stripped it of its former glory until it is a fraction of its former self.

Yes, the modern definition of music is quite simple, isn't it? This is how the dictionary defines it:

noun

1.

An art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions insignificant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.

2.

The tones or sounds employed, occurring in singleline (melody) or multiple lines (harmony), and sounded or to be sounded by one or more voices or instruments, or both.

3.

Musical work or compositions for singing or playing.

4.

The written or printed score of a musical composition.

5.

Such scores collectively.

It seems so basic. But what most have failed to recognize is that music is so much more than that. It's a living thing that we can only contain for so long before it breaks free of the bondage we have put it in and reveals its true self. And when it does, it will come in such a rush that none will be able to ignore its wild, primal sounds… or its soft, refined ones. Music is complex, and yet utterly simple, but it's incredibly transfixing in its own way, is it not?

Music has the power to hold sway over your emotions, and provoke feelings from you that you never thought possible. It can bring you to cloud nine every time—all you have to do is listen. Music doesn't ask much of you; it only asks that you really, truly listen to it. And once you learn to truly listen, you can hear it in everything.

So, then, what precisely is music? By attempting to explain it, I'd be imprisoning it again, and I won't do that, not after I've set it free. But music is everything you want it to be, nothing more, and nothing less. I cannot turn your music into my music, and you cannot turn mine into yours. The definition of music is something deeply personal for everyone, and it's not something that can be given as a gift, or even earned, because it can't be taken away.





Thank you Faith!  THIS is Opera Organically! (: 


~Becca 

Thursday, May 31, 2012

No. 191: What is Opera Organically? Freedom from Arrogance




When we know and understand...
when we can even just imagine,
that we are not teaching and learning Voice
but rather,

IT IS TEACHING US

suddenly we are set free:
like stars set amidst the skies 
by the Creator of Light
we vibrate as Singers set upon this Earth
by That Which Sounds
of the very stuff From Which We Came
In Which We Are
and Which We Always Will Be.

Thank God for that,

Thank God for that.


THIS is Opera Organically.




 

Thursday, May 24, 2012

No. 190: What is Opera Organically? "It's" enough to stun us into silence




When the singing student realizes
it is not her Voice which needs to change
but rather 
She
who needs to change, to stretch, to grow,
to house 
IT...

then...
 then the true magic begins
and She sees she is not merely learning "singing"--
she is learning the language
of Love.

IT is her greatest teacher.
IT is her soul's siren,
her vision just behind sight,
her singing just beyond silence.


THIS is Opera Organically.



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

No. 189: What is Opera Organically? Acknowledging "The Observer"




There is an Observer of all Singers
which
when we are brave enough
will tell us Who We Really Are.

It sees completion,
ecstasy, warmth, honesty, beauty,
perfection, in each moment,
and at every phase of discovery.

When we learn to sing
in the embrace of this Observer
suddenly we are safe enough
to be in awe of the universality of Voice.

Then, what was once a torturous struggle
toward "technical proficiency"
becomes a deep, joyful dive
into the Heart of what it means to be alive.


THIS is Opera Organically.




 
 

Monday, May 21, 2012

No. 188: What is Opera Organically? The search and discovery of life-giving truths.




Along the pathway of never-ending vocal discovery
I have found
that Voice LOVES
to hear the truth about Itself.

As when we celebrate a young child
or an animal in unconditional Love,
 Voice jumps for joy when we have the courage
to see It, and honor It, deeply.

THIS is Opera Organically.
 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

No.187: What is Opera Organically? More than just "staying on"





In my years studying classical dressage horseback riding, I learned a valuable phrase for riding, for singing, and for life:

Ride every stride.
 

When a rider is truly in tune with the horse, when s/he listens to the horse with mind, body, spirit, ear, eye, and every other sense at every moment with paradoxical simplicity, she becomes like a part of the horse.  Her intention is the horse's intention.  The energy in her body matches the energy in the horse's body.  A rider can LIVE to experience the moments when "all is One", and what was once so effort-full becomes suddenly, naturally, effort-less.

This kind of connection with horse is not possible without riding every stride. To ride every stride means to know as much as possible about the horse you are with.  It means to do what it takes to be comfortable, for both horse and rider to feel safe and free.  It means doing what it takes to allow both rider and horse to remain in the moment so they can create magic together.

In what sense is this important for the singer?  For anyone who has watched a beginning rider, the experience can be anything from comical to terrifying.  The objective for the beginning rider is simply to "STAY ON".  Many of us sing like this, which is neither good nor bad, but can set us up for some rocky singing experiences.  In order to keep ourselves safe as singers, we must know the dangers inherent in being a beginner, in not knowing the things we need to know in order to "ride every stride" or "sing every note" of our voices.  

What are the dangers of not "being at One" with Voice?  Functional challenges can come up.  The voice is not strong enough and trips under us... Emotional bucks and kicks can come from outside and inside sources when we are not prepared to understand.  Even what we hear from our most supportive teachers can make us want to "get off" and never get back on the singing animal again. 

If riding is challenging, I would say that singing is even more so.  The Voice is just as wild-at-heart and earthy as a horse, and yet we cannot see it, touch it, or feel it in the traditional sense.  We cannot calm it with our hands or groom it with our brushes.  There are mysteries that surround this "Vocal Beast" that are hard to wrap our heads around.

Which is why we must let go of our heads and drop into our hearts when we are learning about Voice.  When a rider first experiences the magic of Oneness with a horse, it is her heartstrings which are teased, not only her logical brain.  For there is an element in this balance between wo/man and horse which goes beyond logic.  There is no escaping the pure wonder of an animal so powerful as a horse willingly merging with the rider in movement.  It is the deepest honor to experience, and it is what keeps the torch burning for many equestrians around the world.

What I propose for singers is that we begin to re-learn how to merge with our Voices, to see them as natural expressions of pure power and love, pulsing with life.  These Life-form-voices are ours only with their permission!  And when we are allowed to join with them in the pure, joyful moment of what it means to be alive, we can experience the ecstasy of true connection with a force greater than our individual selves.  When we approach our studies with even the imagination of what it might be like to ride that wave of singing passion, we find the strength and reason to carry on. 








Monday, May 14, 2012

No. 186: What is Opera Organically? Non-violent communication with Voice




For a singer who, brave and crazy enough,
sees Voice as a reflection of Deepest Self,
hearing criticism of any Voice 
is witnessing Soul murder.

Dramatic
this may seem

for to sing
screaming the Truth
of what it means to be Human
in the womb of profoundly beautiful Music
all the while cherishing the universality of the instrument which makes it...?

THIS is the most dramatic thing of all.
THIS is LIFE.
THIS is LOVE.
THIS is Opera Organically.









Monday, April 30, 2012

No. 185: What is Opera Organically? It is Astounding...



It is astounding to me, the number of people I encounter who adamantly say "I have no voice" before I even get to know their names!  What is it about our culture which so vehemently separates those who "have" and those who "have not"?  And HOW DARE we speak in such heartless terms of ourselves and others?  Are we truly so ignorant of (or blind to?) the substance of Voice, which resides in Each of Us, that we, even while beholding It before Us and/or within Us, claim It is not there...???

The mischievous Diva Warrior in me, the Ambassador of Opera Organically, wants to whisper to the recesses of each of these Hearts, deemed "voiceless":


"Listen, listen: and you will know you have all the Voice you could ever need."


THIS is Opera Organically.


Thursday, April 26, 2012

No. 184: What is Opera Organically? A Paradigm Shift




When we move from having Voice
to being Voice,
something happens: a seismic internal shift
cracks us open with such violent joy, such bright assurance,
that It cannot be ignored.


THIS is Opera Organically.


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

No. 183 What is Opera Organically? A Resting Place



For the Diva Warriors, 
for the ones who know
that singing is much more than singing,
who know that they are being sung,
Opera Organically is a resting place.

For we see with the eyes of our Eternal Hearts
that Voice is a way of Being, not just of Doing,
which has the power to awaken all aspects
of human emotion and experience on this Earth.

We become the fertile ground
which produces blossoms as well as brambles.
We become the messiness and the decay:
We become the Death
as well as the Birth, the blooming,
of Life.

Walking through the world 
with this pulsing aliveness
can be exhausting.  Our Bodies, our minds, our spirits,
these Vessels which hold so much Voice
become tired.

Opera Organically
is a community which knows and understands,
offering Voices clear and all-encompassing, 
to make space 
for All that is Who We Are.

In this resting place of fellowship
we surrender:
We sit still, we let Love bathe us
with the knowledge that Life and Death
Light and Darkness
chiaro and oscuro
extend out from our songs
to paint the world with exquisite color
knowing
 the more we allow,
the more vibrant our lives, 
the more true our Voices.

What is this, this being in Love?  What is it to sing in Love? 

It is a resting place, of the deepest kind
where to meet others in freedom and in music
is to know more of Who We Are.  

THIS is Opera Organically.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

No. 182: What is Opera Organically? What we want...



If there is one constant thread which weaves through my long journey to finding Voice, it is the desire to express all, not just some, of the deep feelings which course through my physical body when I listen to and sing the music I love.  As a child I believe I did this; I was free in my laughter and in my singing.  It was a freedom of innocence, or perhaps of ignorance.  I am sure I sang some "wrong" notes.  I am certain my diction was not "correct".  I know that I was singing in a way in which others could find "fault".  The little Becky (who is still in me--though I did have to find her!) did not care.

Opera Organically is a way for me to express and explain the myriad of ways in which Love and Life worked to iron out the experiences I had, post-this innocent freedom of childhood, which carried Voice away from my body and robbed me of the authentic communication through Voice which I so long craved.  It is a celebration of the Force which reigns as the Essence of us all which can resurrect the deepest parts of who we are made to be.  It is a testimony to all the beautiful people who, in knowing their own inner fire and letting it burn brightly, saw mine and blew on its embers with the breath of truth, courage, and belief until I could believe in it myself.

On this Palm Sunday, I lovingly and devotedly re-commit my Life and my Voice to that which is Ever-Alive.  This post is a call to remember and to testify to all the ways in which we all have been reborn, resurrected, re-invented in the Truth of Love.  It is a sing out that ALL are safe and cherished and honored when such a testimonial is proclaimed imminent and, daringly, necessary.  It is a call to recognize that which we have always been, and always will be.




 

 


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

No. 181: What is Opera Organically? Thoughts from Navajo Land




To perpetuate the idea that opera is in any way confined to a human structure is to deny the life's blood, the Source of our music: our Selves and artwork--our stories.  Opera is as much alive in the desert, on the mountaintop, in the forest, as it is in the most grandiose opera house.  When we know this, suddenly all of who we are sings with joy and authenticity, and we feel the power of life expressed as art pour from who we are out into the largest expanses of what it means to be alive.  
THIS is Opera Organically.  








Saturday, March 10, 2012

No. 180: What is Opera Organically? Post 5: Voice knows...




Voice knows that It is beautiful.  We, however, may not know this.  The pathway to singing is the pathway to knowing a Beauty which already exists, is already present, is already Who We Are.  When we approach our Voices, not with automatic judgment but with a curiosity and a thirst for the Divine, singing becomes more than singing.  It becomes Life and Love Itself.  And who would not love to listen to that?




Sunday, February 26, 2012

No. 179: What is Opera Organically Post 4 ~ Devotion to Omnipresent Voice



From the perspective of Opera Organically, Voice is omnipresent.  It is not something we must impose upon ourselves or digest.  It is something we must realize, until it becomes clear to us that it is we who have been realized by It.  Voice is all around us. It is in the flowers, in the trees.  It is the very power of Life Itself, for how could a Voice be separated from Its Creator? 





Thursday, February 16, 2012

No. 178: What is Opera Organically? Post 3: On a community complete



In the Opera Organically Community, we do not sing 'incorrectly'.  

It can be perceived that we are, in time and space, singing 'incompletely', however.  This would mean that, as individuals we have not yet realized the omnipresent, complete nature of Voice.  

When we enter into the safety of a group of people willing to explore the idea that our limited view of our individual singing voice may be just that: limited, we open ourselves to a world of possibility and power. 

Opera Organically asks: What could we give to each other that speaks with True Voice?  How can I compliment my sister's path to realizing vocal completion? How can I be of service, not only to my individual growth, but to the freedom, healing, and bliss of the entire world?

The Opera Organically Community is an antidote to the isolated, disempowered singer. In Opera Organically we live the idea that we sing each other, and that when another sings in their beauty, we can rejoice in bowing down to our own. 



Sunday, February 12, 2012

No. 177: What is Opera Organically? Post 2~Who is It?

In the Opera Organically community, we do not speak of those that have "it" and those who don't have "it". 

Rather, we know that We Are It, and we sing accordingly.

No. 176: What is Opera Organically? Post One~A Community Dedicated to Freedom of Voice

Opera Organically is a community dedicated to Freedom of Voice.  It is a gathering of hearts, minds, spirits, bodies, intellects and emotions--of people, who are passionate about the preservation, exploration, and universality of Free Voice.  It is an inclusive community, excluding no person who displays an open heart and mind to the qualities which join us all, and which inform the great, artful expressions of what it means to be human.  Opera Organically is an open community, which sees that Freedom of Voice often exists only in the desire for freedom.  Often it exists in brokenness, in that which the world deems inaccurate or false.  The member of Opera Organically sees possibility even in the most downtrodden Voice, and is brave enough to speak the truth of Wholeness and Oneness which exists even beneath layers of pain, hurt, and lies.  Opera Organically heals as a community, all those willing to see the light of life in their Voices, knowing that if they can hear light, they can also sing light, knowing that they are light.  Opera Organically is a family of hope, of seekers of well-being, and of all that is true and real.  

This post is dedicated to all in need of hope and healing in their search for True Voice.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

No. 175: The Diva Warrior's Intelligence...



The Diva Warrior's intelligence is her Voice.  She knows that the very thing she lives for breathes, communicates, and lets Its wishes known in infinite ways each day. The Diva Warrior knows she knows nothing without It.  So she asks Voice to meld with her at the edge of this very existence until all that is left is the True Her: an organic expression of Life as Voice, Love as Intelligence, and the most powerful, on(e)ly Source of All.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

No. 174: Compelling Questions and the Space Between



The student of singing may ask

Whom do I think I am?  

as well as

Whom does what I am think that I am?

The space between these two questions

houses The Singer's Search for Meaning.

After s/he realizes the second,

there is no more Search:

just a Flight Path from the Heart

where to be found again and again

in each moment fresh, and new, and true,

is just another adventure, 

and a Surrender 

to the Beauty of it All.





 

Saturday, January 21, 2012

No. 173: The Diva Warrior's Tears...



At night,
sometimes,
when She has laid aside her armor of Faith
and her sword of Truth,
the Diva Warrior cries.

She cries tears of power
which heal the world
from the inside out:
a storm of clearing,
heaving sobs which Voice
the desires of every Being
ever proclaimed
Voiceless.

She looks that Great Lie
square in the eye,
the innocent one that, sly,
 whispers

"It's not okay to be us today"

the one that takes Our Voice away,

and She cries


I AM WARRIOR hear me ROOOOAAAAAAARR!!

 
When S/he does,
though most vulnerable and unarmed, 
She knows She is most powerful.

For the forest goes silent, 
the night animals still in mid-step,
to acknowledge the Spirit heard
which is their own.

And when She sleeps, exhausted,
She thanks What Made Her
that, in crying for all the world,
She lives the deepest, strongest song of All. 



Monday, January 9, 2012

No. 172: The Diva Warrior Plays...


The Diva Warrior plays only One Game:

It is where the rules 
Are whispered in the rustle of leaves,
Refereed 
By the crackle of fir needles under feet,
And cheered on 
By animal eyes who see her as she really is.

As she plays she asks:

"Am I doing it like you?"

And with the snuffle of a hot whiskered nose on her cheek
Comes a gentle answer

"Yes"

That grants her strength from the Earth Itself
To open her mouth
And allow Voice which,
Governed by Nature On(e)ly

Humors her to think she is playing It,

Great Mother as She is,

when It
is really playing her.


Sunday, January 8, 2012

No. 171: The Diva Warrior Knows...


...The Diva Warrior knows 
that the winds of passion 
carry crazy Whims. 

When she is open to being One of Them,
Voice becomes like laughter uncontrollable,
and s/he wonders
how This 
could have ever been 
kept 
silent.

"NO MORE!"
She cries, 
a child of Divinity 
being tickled by the fingers of a God Beyond Definition.

"BUT DON'T STOP!"
She gasps,
in recognition of a Lover Who,
All-powerful, holds her ever in Its loving embrace.

"THANK YOU!"
She sighs,
when the laughter subsides, 
and all that is left is the timeless Grace
of what it means to be alive:

Never alone
Always with God
Peace in Storms
Laughter in Tears
and Love,
and Love,
and Love.

Fierce,
Powerful,
and
 Complete.



p.s. thank you Emmitt!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

No. 170: The Diva Warrior Understands...

The Diva Warrior understands there may always be voices which want to tell her who and how to be.  Little do they know she is governed by a Love that is beyond all definition.  She brings these thought-messengers close to her heart, and charts a course to the center of Being--curious, and hopeful, to see if they will accompany her to the place where all is real. 

Monday, January 2, 2012

No. 169: The Diva Warrior Knows...

The Diva Warrior knows
that when she stands up for the weak
when she honors each experience,
hers and others' deeply,
when she gives and receives
with a feeling heart rooted in Love
which has no end,
she is singing.

She is singing the freedom of every heart,
and the joy of every being.

With a roar she cries Love's invincibility,
while at her core she cries tears over Life's exquisite beauty.

The Diva Warrior is a symphony in herself,
following a dance as complex as any known
of inspiration, guidance, mysterious and divine.

She is Earth's instrument of healing.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

No. 168: The Diva Warrior

On this New Years Day 2012, I make the following commitment through Opera Organically:

That we give Voice to a new idea, and recognition to an old truth: the Diva as Warrior

When singing becomes much more than singing...when it becomes about the cultivation of True Voice, which is one and the same with True Love, Awareness, and Life, It grows a strange and beautiful breed of Beings. 

Independent of sex, religion, or any other defining force, we forge a trail through life with a common goal in mind: finding, cherishing, and celebrating the core of what it means to be Us.

We fight with the greatest weapons of time: love, compassion, faith, belief, and trust. 

For what do we fight?  For the right to be all that we are, to the very edge of inspiration and back.  We fight with swords of Truth to make room for Spirit which grants us Voice.  We fight with words that slash the darkness of unbelief to leave only the brilliant colors of deep expression.  We fight for space, for room to breathe, to laugh, to love, to sing.

So let it be, that we, Diva Warriors, spread throughout the world, unmindful of what it thinks, only mindful of what it is asking us to sing...and so it will be done.

Happy New Year,

Opera Organically