Truth

Tuesday, Ma 8, 2018

“There will always be obstacles in our daily lives but with great love anything is possible”.  The yogi’s have always thought this was the truth, and so the idea is that heart opening yoga practices create the conditions for love to grow in our bodies and in our lives.  The yogi’s maintain that if you keep practicing with the intention to open your heart, where there are walls there will be doors.  There is always possibility and we are always building our capacity for love. I feel like Dione Taylor, who performed on Saturday evening at the Northern Lights Pavilion, had the same message.  Many of her songs were about finding hope and love in the challenging situations of our every day lives.  I felt like her message was that we can all sing our way through whatever challenges life give us.  Dione has played for Queen Elizabeth, the President of the United States and  now the Haliburton County Folk Society.  I was part of the almost sold out audience and I am still vibrating from the performance. She is a sensational performer.  The audience was dancing in their chairs.   She  is a rhythm and blues vocal artist who performed with The Backsliders, “a hard core honky tonk band”.  Dione is a pastor’s daughter who was born and raised in Saskatchewan.  She explained that her entire family is musical and “really connected to the gift of song.”  She believes that music can transcend anything and music is her way to practice and cultivate love and kindness and joy and then use that energy in her life.  Dione was playing the organ at the age of four and was the music director and organist at her church by the age of 10.  She acknowledges that our own beliefs,  faith and lives are regularly being challenged and that we each have to find our own truth.  She uses her music to express her truth.  Her music is influenced by her gospel roots and the word gospel means “truth.”  A highlight for me at the concert was when the entire audience stood up and participated a gospel song.  I know I say this in every article it seems, but music is healing and inspiring and uplifting.  Something happens when people sing together.    If you are need of inspiration  I encourage you to search her website www.dionetaylor.com and look for Hymn to Freedom on the media page (it’s the 7th song at the bottom of the page).   It will take your breath away.  The power and the passion coming from her voice and heart is beautiful.   I still can’t believe that I got to see her and the band in our little town – 5 minutes from my house.  We are just so incredibly lucky.  Walter Tose was the person who made this evening happen for the Folk Society.   We get the very best talent in our county because of this organization and it is all done by  volunteers.  In 1999 a friend made me a card that still sits on my kitchen window ledge and it says “I get up, I walk, I fall down.  Meanwhile, I keep dancing.” Hillel.  It reminds me every day to keep getting up no matter what happens.  I think the card could say “Meanwhile, I keep dancing and singing”.