Making Progress with the Mele

Ahhh.... Ok. So I sat down this afternoon and started to work on a mele from Molokai. A beautiful song that doesn't get sung very often anymore. And you know, that makes me really sad because this is such a fantastic combination of haunting melody and incredible lyrics. I was in heaven. Very few composers write like this anymore. In ANY tradition!

And I love the fact that as I sing it--over and over and over--the lyrics really start to come to life. As a non-native of the islands and a language student, sometimes the poetry is lost on my western ears and mind. But every time I slow down and take a breath and allow the song to "breathe," it's like light shines in the room. The lyrics suddenly become clear. The melody makes perfect sense. The planets align. It's all good.

I love that this is my current job. I hope that it can be forever. I can't think of a better way to spend one's time and energy. This job, while exhausting for a moment, actually gives so much more than it takes. How can you argue with that?