.....now that was unexpected!!!!
Well - when I got the invite to sing with a choir for 2 weeks in Georgia - I knew I had to do it - but I really didn't know about the singing - I thought I couldn't sing - I hadn't sung since I was at secondary school and I also believed that I couldn't sing in tune - BUT I CAN AND I DID!!!!!!
It was fantastic - on so many levels - just being in Georgia with easy, lovely people - having a purpose - to learn songs in Georgian - to travel in a most amazingly beautiful country - laughing in a minibus as it rocked and swayed over high mountains on un-tarmacked roads, avoiding cows as they stood stubbornly on the busier roads, clambering out to see monasteries with centuries old frescoes, staying in real people's houses and eating huge feasts of amazing food..... tasting and toasting with wines made in traditional ways, rich with the sun and full of life and....... singing, singing, singing - WHAT A JOY!!!!!!!
OK - so I had a good holiday!!! The warmth and recollection of it is still very close to my heart - making me smile right down to my toes!!!!!!!
I got back last Saturday after travelling through Friday night - in time for Nita's 50th Birthday - which was a wonderful and happy pub party - with singing - Karaoke - I didn't push my newly found skill though - clear in the understanding that sacred Georgian chanting is not really going to go down well in a Liverpool city pub at 1 in the morning!!
The beautiful connection to the Georgian singing - of course - was Chris- I knew he liked Georgian chanting/singing - but to be honest I don't think I knew what that meant - he listened to it - but he didn't play it to the family - so although I knew it was music close to his heart - I didn't really know what it was - and then I find myself - singing this beautiful music with the backdrop of snow covered mountains - higher than the Alps - in the company of singers who understood the sacredness - not from a knowledge of the words - but from a shared recognition of the beauty of the music - the purity - audible in the harmony of joyful voices -singing together. That's what it was - joyful - the joy of opening your mouth (heart) with others - bufff - I think anyone can sing!
So now I am home - I am still amazed at myself - Chris died nearly 6 years ago - and I am now so very different - in so many ways - I call myself a dancer - and now I can say I am a singer - a singer of Georgian songs - wow, wow, wow!!!!!
I think the very clear message here is that we are ALL singers and dancers - if we let ourselves be............
Am home alone tonight as Jim and Rachel have gone to London today - Jim leaves Liverpool for Leiden on the 22nd of August - a big step for him....
And I am me - happy to be home - just had a lovely chat with my Mum - reflecting on her legacy - visible in her children and grandchildren..... busy at work, reporting on SiS Catalyst... things you have to do... grateful for the opportunities it is giving me - and now it is time for my tea - Jim's spaghetti bolognaise - how blessed am I??????
