This Moment
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Submitter Comments
While it sometimes feels as though I invented mind chatter, I’m aware that it is not unique to my own attempts at meditation. In my case it can be busy, noisy: plans, lists, memories, emotions! At the 2014 Threshold Choir All Choir Gathering in Los Gatos, CA, I arose at dawn, looking to Kri Schlafer to guide me, via her meditation class, to quiet mind. My first— and lasting—impression of Kri was that she is the embodied spirit of a gentle playful wood nymph. We began; Kri invited us to welcome whatever came to us during the session, and I settled into that invitation. While prepared for some mind chatter, I admit to harboring expectations that I would greet and release each thought as it came to me. From behind my closed eyes I sensed people flowing, being—in the moment. Aaaaaah. Simultaneously, my head was brimming with thoughts about generations—and with words and melody to a song I had never heard before. So much for mind cleared and thoughts released.
That evening I eagerly sang my new song to my room-mate, and the next day I was prepared, for this morning’s meditation session, to be fully in the moment, opening wide to Kri’s expert guidance. Alas, my muse once again had her own plans. Having composed melody and words, she had clearly reserved session two for turning her attention to the high and low harmony parts. Meditation time completed, so was my song—titled, appropriately enough, This Moment.
Notes:
- I am not a prolific songwriter. My next Threshold Choir song, Sometimes It’s Just Time (To Let the Tears Come), didn’t come through me until 4 years later at the 2018 All Choir Gathering in Boulder, CO. And yes, it created itself during Kri’s meditation class.
- During my wedding ceremony in March, 2017, nine of my Austin Threshold Choir sisters performed this song with my husband and me.
See Marcia’s Songwriter Profile
Lyrics
From my ancestors comes this moment.
I receive the gift gratefully, with open heart,
And to my children, I release this moment
With open heart, gratefully.
From our ancestors comes this moment.
We receive the gift gratefully, with open heart,
And to our children, we release this moment
With open heart, gratefully.