As you may recall, I led two Songtaneous workshops at the 29th annual Women & Spirituality Conference this weekend. (Thanks to everyone who came and sang with me!)

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Singing spontaneously with Bruce Henry at the Dakota Friday night.

I’ll admit I was tired going into this weekend, having crammed my schedule fuller than I should have in the week before. Plus I went to see singer friend Bruce Henry at the Dakota Friday night before leaving town (we improvised a piece together in his second set — an experience I would have been sorry to miss!) so I didn’t even take an early night before getting on the road.

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That said, it was a beautiful drive down, what with the unseasonably warm October weather and all the autumn colors. I warmed up, sang along to the radio and prepped for my workshop that afternoon.

First annual Mankato marathon

When I arrived in Mankato, I discovered to my surprise (and to the surprise of the poor workshop coordinators) that Mankato had chosen this Saturday morning to host their first ever marathon. (I took some pictures of the runners to amuse myself. We sat there for a while. *smile*)

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Once clearing the running route, I went straight to the conference site – the Centennial Student Union, picked up my registration materials and found a seat in the front row for the opening ceremony and keynote.

There, I met ML and R who immediately asked me about my astrological sign and my numbers (the first I knew, the second I didn’t). They quickly calculated my number and told me I was a Heirophant, which means I am a student/teacher and always swinging between the two roles. (Well, that felt right on the mark.)

ML went on to say that I was in the middle of a rerooting/rebuilding year which is a time for going back to starting places and sorting things out. I certainly feel like I’m looking for the next step or project in my musical journey and that I have received a LOT of input in the past few months and am working to integrate it all.

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Dr. Akasha Gloria Hull gave the keynote taking me back to one of my former careers (I used to work at a rape crisis center) as she talked about the relationships between sex, sexual violence and spirituality.

She was funny and vulnerable admitting that after proposing her speech topic, she had changed her mind and decided she wasn’t going to talk about sex and spirituality. (Why do I have to be the one to talk about this?) But she reported, saying she sensed the Universe at work, that the coordinators didn’t get the email with her new topic until after her original title had been announced and the programs had been printed. She accepted that she was meant to proceed with the topic.

She asked why what we hear about the sex lives of church (and political) figures is about their transgressions. Why we only talk about the scandal of sex, not the spirituality. She talked for about an hour and then signed books for us.

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After the keynote, I left my new friends ML and R to go find lunch and get my room (and head) together for my afternoon workshop. I found my room, which was literally off the map, and set up my materials.

Both Songtaneous sessions were great fun. I reconnected with a few people from last year’s conference and met lots of new singer friends. Two women were guided to my Saturday session when they couldn’t find the workshops they were trying to attend. They graciously sat and sang.

We sang, connected and laughed (oh, how we laughed!) and I felt like I had slipped on my favorite robe and slippers. Comfortable and at ease.

I drove home Sunday afternoon exhilarated and exhausted. Today, I rest.

Tomorrow …

Guess what? I’ve written over 200 posts on the Songtaneous blog.

Obviously, part of me feels like I should have made a bigger deal about post 200.

Except I didn’t know it was post 200; it just kind of snuck up on me.

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Yep. So … Hmm.

This is post #201.

As you know, I aim to write meatier posts on Mondays and … I’m working on one.

(It just isn’t finished quite yet.)

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So, to give me time to finish writing (*smile*) and to ease you into your week, why not catch up on some of my favorite Songtaneous posts you may have missed?

• Ending Singing Trauma
• How To Survive a Solo
• Sarah, Meet Stuck
• Sarah, Meet Procrastination and Perfectionism
• Start Me Up
• The Cooldown
• Finding the Grit to Quit

And, of course, there’s my 2009 Passion Pays the Bills series — 15 posts about what I’ve learned on the path to being a self-employed vocalist.

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And you? Any favorites among the 201?

This past Saturday, I was part of a workshop and performance of “As the Rhythm Changes” by Mankwe Ndosi. This weekend was part of a powerful singing summer for me. I’m a little dumbfounded by the diversity of experiences I’ve had in one short month.

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I met Mankwe, Libby, Alejandra, Kenna (and her children) in St. Paul to caravan to the venue, DreamAcres farm in Wykoff, MN. DreamAcres is an organic farm and arts venue / flourish arts camp run by Evie Barr and Todd Juzwiak. They host art camps for children and adults throughout the summer, as well as weekly pizza/movie nights on Fridays. (I can highly recommend the pizza, including a gluten-free version, which they served as part of our potluck dinner. *smile*)

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It was sticky and muggy when we left the Cities, but by the time we reached DreamAcres, the clouds had cleared and the sun was out. The farm was green, lush and spacious. Another beautiful, natural space to sing into. I shook my head in amazement at how singing had once again let me travel to a new and beautiful space where I would make fleeting, yet deep, connections.

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And, speaking of connections, there was the joy and discovery of reconnecting with the powerful “Rhythm” singers. We arrived early afternoon and spent a little bit of time exploring the space and meeting the owners (Evie and Todd) and the farm animals, including Shamrock (the dog), four horses, two goats, Hercules (the ox) and numerous chickens.

I had a slightly nerve-wracking, but stirring experience meeting Santiago the horse who walked straight up to me and brushed his head against my shoulder. (Evie quickly joined us to make sure none of us would be nipped or stepped on by her equine friends.)

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Mankwe, Kenna, Libby, Alejandra and I convened at 4:30 to find our way back to our “river,” as Libby described it. I found myself pleased to be standing once more in a circle of singers. A circle that felt different from, yet in many ways the same as, the circle of singers I left in Italy at the beginning of July.

We revisited the themes and movements of the piece “Soil, Root, Devotion Seed” which would be part of the evenings performance. Alejandra worked with us to expand and develop the motifs from our work on the piece in May.

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At 5:30, members of the Wykoff community joined us for an hour-long workshop. We played, sang and shared stories about family, carrots, soil, seed, roots and devotion.

At 7:30, after our potluck dinner with our workshop attendees and audience members, we began the performance.

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Lots of language for me in this performance. Almost more stories than music, it seemed. It began when Mankwe introduced me and included the fact that I had just returned from Italy. Suddenly, it seemed imperative to connect the circle in which I was standing currently to the other circles in which I’ve stood in the last month, year, etc.

I felt a powerful recognition that I am a point on a circle, and through me, circles connect and intersect. Through the singing, Italy comes to Wykoff and Wykoff will go to Europe when I return there in December. That each of us intersects and connects with so many circles.

Evie, me, Kenna, Libby, Mankwe & Alejandra

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We departed after dark, loaded with the well wishes of our audience and tomatoes, cucumbers and squashes from the DreamAcres farm.

I sang all the way home.