Well, today is the day that the class who made the music video for "Get Up" graduate. Their teacher Leah McBride asked me if I wanted to send them a message that will be read during the ceremony, and this is what I wrote.
Dear Strangford Class of '08,
Through your creative talents and expression you have shown people around the world the new Northern Ireland. For you embody the dreams of peace that your parents dared to dream so many years ago when they chose to support integrated education. The long promised bright future with opportunities for all citizens is now being placed into your eager and capable hands. Embrace it. Your moment in history has been centuries in the making. You the class of 2008 inherit the peace dividend and with it can make whatever you wish for your lives, for your country and for the world. That you so generously shared your abundant talents in this music video is something for which I shall always hold the deepest gratitude. Your radiant young faces have given thousands of people across the globe a glimpse into your hopeful corner of the world, and reminded all of us of what is possible when we act with courage and love. Happy Graduation. Congratulations. And thank you.
Love always,
Elizabeth
Showing posts with label N. Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label N. Ireland. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Passion into Form
Let the enthusiasm begin! The first new moon of Spring arrives on Sunday, April 6th at 7:55 P.M. PST. This past moon cycle was an excellent time to meditate, reflect and seek deeper Spiritual Wisdom. But the nebulous sometimes meandering waters of Pisces have definitely passed. We now enter a lunar cycle when Venus, Mercury and the Sun are in feisty, enlivening Aries. In short, our hearts (Venus) and minds (Mercury) are reawakening to connect us passionately with what is most important to us. If you’ve been doing some honest to goodness soul searching lately, you are about to be rewarded. This cycle will give us direction and energetic support. What is more is that this moon’s journey will also see us into the materializing forces of Taurus whose earthy energy will be strongly magnified by the presence of large outer planets in fellow earth signs. In short, what we truly love and are committed to can now come into form.
April 17th Mercury moves into Taurus where it will be joined by the Sun on the 19th, on the 20th the moon will be full (in Scorpio - how powerful!) and on the 30th (Beltane) Venus will enters Taurus. On May 2nd Saturn, currently in Virgo, will go direct after being retrograde since mid December. And Jupiter and Pluto are already in fellow earth sign Capricorn. Some of you will recall the new moon of January 8th this year when we set New Year’s intentions while four planets were in Capricorn. The new cycle will see some very tangible progress on those goals and objectives. Keep going!
If you’d like to understand more about astrology, on May1st a very special opportunity to do so will be presented by Hay House Radio. Renowned author Mark Husson is hosting his first Astrology webinar, somehow planned on a day when six planets are in Earth signs. That guy is good! Novices and professionals alike have something to learn form Mark’s keen and creative perspective on the planets. That event takes place live from 4:00-6:00 P.M. PST and only costs $10 at attend. I’ll be there and hope to be mingling and learning with you then. To register, just .visit Hay House
And, as so many notes have piled up since my last post, I want to cover a few of the more significant ones. In dreams I’ve seen that China will come to peaceful terms with Tibet. The pressure of Olympics sponsors and the transparency of the world (wide web) we now live in, plus the next set of eclipses, will make it impossible to do otherwise. Also under the influences of those August eclipses (the 1st and 16th), I saw the younger generation (Indigos and Crystals) stage very colorful, well-crafted, media savvy protests at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. But this will not be Chicago circa 1968 when the Antiwar rallies clashed with police. I was shown our youth staging creative, compelling and well choreographed messages of peace. If you’re reading this and are under 35 years of age, get to it! And remember that April 22nd is Earth Day. With so many planets in Earth signs this year, we have a more profound opportunity to improve things. So whether it’s through political practice, meditation and prayer, or via participating in a local cleanup event, please consider taking some time this year to work towards a cleaner, greener, more loving and beautiful planet.
Finally, to close out this post about purpose/passion coming into form, I’m very pleased to announce that NPR affiliate WBFO-FM in Buffalo, NY will include my music in a special about the peace process of Northern Ireland. Hosted by Bill Raffel, it will air live and be streamed online on Saturday, April 5th at 8:00 P.M EST. This is one of those dreams really do come true moments for me, and I hope you will share in the inspiration the achievement of peace really is.
Wishing Love, Light and many blessings.
Elizabeth
Ps: Saw this and really liked it. I affectionately refer to her as the brain lady, Jill Bolte Taylor, and her story is pretty interesting.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Happy St. Patrick's Day
Why Do I Do It? That peace stuff about Ireland? I can answer that question in four notes, sung to the words “Oh Danny Boy.” That short musical phrase, from an ancient air first set to paper in the 1700’s, goes right to my heart. And for anyone who’s heard the tune at a funeral, its profound effect is undeniable. And so this year’s St. Patrick’s season begins. You’ll see shamrocks, people in very loud, some would say downright obnoxious, shades of green, many of whom are likely to be highly intoxicated, and all manner of Celtic revelry and celebration. 2008 is a very special occasion for me and the Irish.
In the Spring of 1998 the Good Friday Peace Accord was signed by longtime political enemies, and then approved by voters across the island, North and South. The people demanded that their political leaders find a way for all to live in peace, and I was hooked. Peace is that one ideal to which all spiritual paths and practitioners aspire. In my ten years of watching the Irish people work toward a lasting settlement, slow step by slow arduous step, I’ve had many occasions to contemplate its meaning.
During a 1999 protest against the Good Friday Accord, a man in a wheelchair held up a sign with large red letters that read, “REAL VICTIM.” At the time I was reading the work of Caroline Myss, so his sign jumped from out of the TV screen into my consciousness. I would never judge this man, for I have not had to walk in his shoes for so much as one single day. From the news story I surmised that he had been injured permanently in one of the region’s many horrible bombings. But his words haunted me. I thought about Ms. Myss’ writings about the culture of “Woundology” and her assertion that after a certain point, our victimhood becomes unhealthy. I actually don’t know anyone who hasn’t had to deal with some wound or another. In some cases, the cause is explicitly political. For most the traumas are less obvious or dramatic, but no less painful to endure and challenging to reconcile. In her book “Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can,” Ms. Myss ultimately concludes that forgiveness is the solution. By forgiving, we are not condoning the behavior of the perpetrator. Rather we are making a clear and conscious choice to no longer allow that past experience to be our primary identification. It’s a “that was then, this is now” kind of clarity and philosophy. She also discusses at great length the dangers of bonding to one another in our pain, and the inevitable futility of doing so. Eventually someone will want to end the cycle of suffering and grow and heal, and this destabilizes relationships founded on mutual wounds. And so it was with the man on TV. The world around him had collectively decided that the time to move on had come. And there he was, railing against change, against peace.
Another moment in this ten year journey that stands out for me is that of the Omagh bombing. In late August of 1998, when the Peace Accord was new and fragile and Northern Ireland’s political future was still very uncertain, those who didn’t want peace tried to stop it in its tracks. In a crowded city center on a Sunday afternoon the bomb went off. With tragic irony this incident became the most deadly in the 30 years of the Troubles. Fortunately hate, violence and destruction have their limits. Instead of reigniting the terrible cycle of retaliation, that bombing inspired greater support for peace. It reminded the people, in grim and harrowing detail, of precisely what they so desperately longed to leave behind. In each moment we choose and those choices create our future.
Of all of the stories of the Troubles, the one that I think will always mean the most to me is of a man, now deceased, named Gordon Wilson. In November of 1987 the Troubles had been going on for twenty years, peace process after peace process had failed and the violence was relentless. At that year’s Remembrance (Veteran’s Day) parade in a small town called Enniskillen, the IRA targeted and bombed elderly, retired British soldiers who had gathered in the town center for the annual ceremony. Amongst the dead was a young nurse who had come to the event with her father, Mr. Wilson. A BBC reporter caught up with him later that evening and this is what he said.
"She held my hand tightly, and gripped me as hard as she could. She said, 'Daddy, I love you very much.' Those were her exact words to me, and those were the last words I ever heard her say. But I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life. She was a great wee lassie. She loved her profession. She was a pet. She's dead. She's in Heaven and we shall meet again.”
A Protestant, he would not allow his daughter’s death to be used to fuel Loyalist retribution. Her death and his tender and profound words began to change things.
So when “the pipes” come calling this year, if you see me with a tear in my eye, it won’t be for the sorrows of Ireland, or myself. It will be for the Love of people like the late Gordon Wilson. It will be for the Irish people, who just this past May formed a joint government where Protestant and Catholic serve together. It will be for those kids who now go to school together that I’m always going on about. And it will be for the dawning of St. Patrick’s Day in a new Northern Ireland.
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll bend and tell me that you love me
I simply sleep in peace until you come to me.
In the Spring of 1998 the Good Friday Peace Accord was signed by longtime political enemies, and then approved by voters across the island, North and South. The people demanded that their political leaders find a way for all to live in peace, and I was hooked. Peace is that one ideal to which all spiritual paths and practitioners aspire. In my ten years of watching the Irish people work toward a lasting settlement, slow step by slow arduous step, I’ve had many occasions to contemplate its meaning.
During a 1999 protest against the Good Friday Accord, a man in a wheelchair held up a sign with large red letters that read, “REAL VICTIM.” At the time I was reading the work of Caroline Myss, so his sign jumped from out of the TV screen into my consciousness. I would never judge this man, for I have not had to walk in his shoes for so much as one single day. From the news story I surmised that he had been injured permanently in one of the region’s many horrible bombings. But his words haunted me. I thought about Ms. Myss’ writings about the culture of “Woundology” and her assertion that after a certain point, our victimhood becomes unhealthy. I actually don’t know anyone who hasn’t had to deal with some wound or another. In some cases, the cause is explicitly political. For most the traumas are less obvious or dramatic, but no less painful to endure and challenging to reconcile. In her book “Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can,” Ms. Myss ultimately concludes that forgiveness is the solution. By forgiving, we are not condoning the behavior of the perpetrator. Rather we are making a clear and conscious choice to no longer allow that past experience to be our primary identification. It’s a “that was then, this is now” kind of clarity and philosophy. She also discusses at great length the dangers of bonding to one another in our pain, and the inevitable futility of doing so. Eventually someone will want to end the cycle of suffering and grow and heal, and this destabilizes relationships founded on mutual wounds. And so it was with the man on TV. The world around him had collectively decided that the time to move on had come. And there he was, railing against change, against peace.
Another moment in this ten year journey that stands out for me is that of the Omagh bombing. In late August of 1998, when the Peace Accord was new and fragile and Northern Ireland’s political future was still very uncertain, those who didn’t want peace tried to stop it in its tracks. In a crowded city center on a Sunday afternoon the bomb went off. With tragic irony this incident became the most deadly in the 30 years of the Troubles. Fortunately hate, violence and destruction have their limits. Instead of reigniting the terrible cycle of retaliation, that bombing inspired greater support for peace. It reminded the people, in grim and harrowing detail, of precisely what they so desperately longed to leave behind. In each moment we choose and those choices create our future.
Of all of the stories of the Troubles, the one that I think will always mean the most to me is of a man, now deceased, named Gordon Wilson. In November of 1987 the Troubles had been going on for twenty years, peace process after peace process had failed and the violence was relentless. At that year’s Remembrance (Veteran’s Day) parade in a small town called Enniskillen, the IRA targeted and bombed elderly, retired British soldiers who had gathered in the town center for the annual ceremony. Amongst the dead was a young nurse who had come to the event with her father, Mr. Wilson. A BBC reporter caught up with him later that evening and this is what he said.
"She held my hand tightly, and gripped me as hard as she could. She said, 'Daddy, I love you very much.' Those were her exact words to me, and those were the last words I ever heard her say. But I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge. Dirty sort of talk is not going to bring her back to life. She was a great wee lassie. She loved her profession. She was a pet. She's dead. She's in Heaven and we shall meet again.”
A Protestant, he would not allow his daughter’s death to be used to fuel Loyalist retribution. Her death and his tender and profound words began to change things.
So when “the pipes” come calling this year, if you see me with a tear in my eye, it won’t be for the sorrows of Ireland, or myself. It will be for the Love of people like the late Gordon Wilson. It will be for the Irish people, who just this past May formed a joint government where Protestant and Catholic serve together. It will be for those kids who now go to school together that I’m always going on about. And it will be for the dawning of St. Patrick’s Day in a new Northern Ireland.
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll bend and tell me that you love me
I simply sleep in peace until you come to me.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
"Get Up" for Peace on February 24th
Though roughly 5,134 miles (8,262 km) lie between me and the staff of NICIE in Belfast, we're getting together a week from Sunday, February the 24th. We're also inviting everyone from Strangford Integrated College in Co. Down, people from all of the integrated schools throughout Northern Ireland for that matter, anyone in the world who wants to be part of the festivities, and of course, you. On the 24th we're uniting at iTunes to celebrate and support peace.
30 years ago Northern Ireland was for all intensive purposes, at war. Though it will not be named as such for all sorts of legal and political reasons, I imagine, all of the horror we understand as war was the day to day experience of the people there. In that very difficult setting, the work of the integrated education movement began via NICIE. They are the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education, and what they have been doing for 27 years now is establishing schools that Protestant and Catholics attend together. Their belief that educating children together would ultimately yield peace was correct.
Ten years ago people across Ireland voted for a peace process in the form of the Good Friday Agreement, and I was hooked. It's too long of a story for this post (there are some press accounts if you really want to know more). But suffice it to say, the inspiration that stirred my heart way back then has never left. In fact the approach of Spring each year reminds of that momentous and hopeful time. On my journey into trying to understand peace through the story of Ireland, I've traveled there, North and South, made friends with the people of NICIE, and enjoyed the opportunity to support that peace with my music. This on-line event affirms everything I believe in.
I believe we can help one another with something as simple as downloading a song. I believe that political activism makes a difference. And mostly, I believe that most people want to live in peace, whatever their ideological differences, and that the example of N. Ireland clearly demonstrates that peace is attainable.
I'd write a lot more if time only permitted, but I'm packing for an overdue long weekend holiday in San Diego. I just wanted to post here and ask people to please help me to get the word out about our special one-day, on-line fund-raiser. Of the $1.99 cost of a legal download at iTunes for this music video, $1.39 will be donated to NICIE. And with enough downloads on one day, we have a shot of making the iTunes Top 100 Music Video Charts. The students who star in this video, and their dedicated teachers Leah and Richard, are from one of these integrated schools, and are more than deserving of the recognition. Let's do it for them, their parents, for NICIE and for peace.
Peace,
Elizabeth
Monday, December 10, 2007
Friends of the Video
11 December 2007
Hello,
People have been emailing to ask how they can support the video. I'm deeply grateful, and slightly overwhelmed. Anything you can do is of tremendous help and is sincerely appreciated. Enclosed are various ideas and suggestions, all of which make a big difference. The top priority is to get as many hits or views of the video tracked and counted as possible. We’ve already had over 1,000 views between Myspace and YouTube, and these view counts help convince journalists and radio station programmers to cover the story and play the song. YouTube has the best way to assist in that they allow you to send this video as your holiday e-card, and it’s all free. Please consider this option.
And in case you're reading my blog for the first time and have no idea what I'm going on about, here's the video. Enjoy!
INTERNET
Distribute the Video Online -- Here is a list of all of the websites hosting the video and how each one works and the options you have to promote the video on them. Also please consider making one of these sites your web browser’s home page for a week or so. That means each time that you open your browser, another view is counted.
YouTube
In addition to the holiday e-card, YouTube also includes both the link to the video and the code for the video. You can send the link to others via email asking them to check it out, and with the code, you can post the video on your website, webpage or blog. Also, please give it 5 stars while you’re there. Those ratings really help. And if you like, leave a comment there.
Myspace
If you’re on Myspace you can email, bulletin, blog and add the video to your profile. You can also use the code to place it on separate websites, webpages and blogs. Please also rate it a bouyah - positive! One thing that is unfortunate about the Myspace code is that it is inconsistent when trying to place the video in the comments sections of your friends pages. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. So I recommend simply posting the link to the video in comments on Myspace.
Bebo
For all of you there in Ireland and the UK - Bebo allows you to add the video to your profile as well as gives you the code to add it to your website, webpages and blogs. I just put this page up - so please also make friends with me there.
Yahoo Video
Like the others, you can rate it and their site gives you code to place the video on your website, webpages and blogs. They also count the views, so sending this link helps as well. And unlike the others, you can post your review of the video at Yahoo.
Make Friends with Awakening Queen Maebh if you're a member of these sites.
Bebo
Myspace
RADIO
Request the Song and Thank Radio for Playing it -- So far we’re on Raidió Fáilte in Belfast. They are of course an Irish language radio station, but you don’t have to speak Irish to thank them and request the song. If you’re not in Belfast, you can listen online and thank them via the contact button there.
Some other stations are considering adding the song, so I’ll be updating this list.
PRINT MEDIA
Read the press stories that have run. With papers with online editions, it demonstrates to editors that this story is important and that the public supports a message of peace, and some good news in the paper! And if you’re really motivated, please write a letter to the editor expressing your appreciation. A couple of stories are due to run this week, so I’ll post when they are up.
So far we have been in The Newards Chronicle, on November 9th, 2007. They don’t have an online edition, but the link about gives their contact details.
THE MUSIC
You can buy the “Get Up” Single at iTunes under Awakening Queen Maebh and at the Snocap. If that iTunes link doesn’t work for those in teh UK, please just go to your iTunes and search for Awakening Queen Maebh - the song is available at their UK store. The first single, “Hey Dublin,” is available on Amazon. 10% of all sales is donated to NICIE. The video will be on sale at iTunes in early ‘08.
YOUR FEEDBACK
Share your thoughts and suggestions. If you know of another outlet for the video or way to promote it, please feel leave a comment here. Thank you again for your consideration and support. It’s making a very positive difference. Happy Holidays!
Cheers,
Elizabeth
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)