Hive Open Mic ( #openmic ) is a global community of music lovers, for music fans and musicians. Each week is a new invitation for expression and connection.
Flourish
A Vision for a Vibrant Life
This is a medicine song about self-expression from a place of rootedness, which gives us a firm foundation to spring up from–like flowers that bloom in the sun. We all know what happens to flowers with shallow roots, falling flat, but the ones with deep roots sprout, climb, bud, and bear fruit. Woo!
"Flourish" is an optimistic look on life, filled with trust that the natural forces of the four sacred elements will work their wonders. The air, water, earth, and fire flow and shift, relieving and releasing for the benefit of all life on a common course of expansion. In this way, we grow and prosper together. We flourish.
Flourish
The Story Behind the Song
Sometimes, when I find myself worrying about the future, I look to the plants. To me, they represent the ultimate freedom. We have some sky-high sunflowers growing in our garden right now, for example. They are perfectly surrendered to the moment, living simply, rooting down, growing up, swaying, basking in the sunshine.
I see myself like these flowers, and I aspire to follow their good example. I admire their glorious blossoms bursting with yellow petals and nourishing seeds, neatly aligned in a divine spiral. I like to meditate on flowers like these—along with the wildflowers—learning to bloom where I am planted, realizing the prosperity that is always with me in the present moment.
To me, flowers are symbols of the ultimate freedom: faith. They flourish in life without worry, no hurry, no toil, no strife. Just a surrender to their destiny. "Ultimate Freedom" is the theme of this week's Hive Open Mic, and so naturally this song arrives as a good fit.
Flourish
Music Production Notes
This week, a friend asked me if I had any prayer requests. I told her I wanted to trust in the flow of prosperity. She reminded me that "prosperity" is such an open word to an abundance of many kinds. And after I thought about that, I clarified that "flourishing in life" is the specific angle of abundance I'm affirming. I think that conversation planted a seed about singing this song.
Also this week, I tried a new technology item. It's a looping station called Boss RC-30, which I learned about from my fellow Hive musician @montycashmusic. This week was my first chance to try something like this—it's a recording device that repeats whatever audio input I sent into it. It was a steep learning curve for me, but I'm making progress.
What you hear in the above video is a maraca rhythm, a couple of rawhide hand drums, guitar, and vocals, all blended on the fly. I have to say that I am happy with what I'm learning, and thrilled with what I'm imagining! This really satisfies a deep desire for drums to accompany my songs—I so miss my bandmates!
Flourish
Song Lyrics
Aware of the way of the wind we remember to bend
When we bear fruit we present our seeds to the breeze
Trusting the wind to allow us to continue to flourish
We open our petals to the heavens
Bathing in the light that purifies
Breathing that energy inward
Soft paws gentle hooves we remember the shush of the sea
Moving like the ocean in motion inside of us
Trusting the water to allow us to continue to flourish
To end one cycle for a new life cycle to begin
We burn like the phoenix and return to the dawn of a new day
Trusting the fire to allow us to continue to flourish
Acknowledgements
All words and music are original, composed February 24, 2018 and recorded May 25, 2020. Thanks to the spark of inspiration that led me to this moment, with this song for this occasion. I feel grateful for the opportunity to share my art. This song fits the current Hive Open Mic theme: "Ultimate Freedom," with contemplative words exploring the expressions of the wildflower, the wild animal, and the wildfire.
Hive Open Mic - Week 7 is underway right now, with the current theme: "Ultimate Freedom."
Flourish. What a fundamentally healing word! Loved your song - and love that there are more songs of praise, of hope, of connection. More please.
Hope you'll be checking in with tomorrow night's naturalmedicine music.
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Ooh, thanks for alerting me to your naturalmedicine music. I'm not aware of that yet. Will you send me a link?
@joseacabrerav is going to have a concert soon I think, would love you to be part of it. xx
Right on, thank you! Yes, he and I have been in touch, and I do believe we'll collaborate on that. I really admire him.
I loved your presentation this week, I would love to know if what you use to record those two bars as a continuous loop is hardware or software?
It sounds fantastic, many musicians playing and it's just you recording almost simultaneously. No video editing, oh it's great.
Very nice voice and nice song I congratulate you my friend.
Thank you. Yes, I'm using a hardware. It's a product called "Boss RC-30" - a guitar looping station. I highly recommend it to you, as I know you're a great guitarist. This equipment will give you some exciting new ways to soar sonically.
Personally, I found it challenging to operate at first. The equipment isn't very intuitive and the manual is not helpful. Fortunately, there are some good YouTube videos demonstrating this product. My personal setup is shown in the picture below. The looping station has two audio inputs and two audio outputs, plus a microphone input. So I'm running a microphone line in and a guitar line in, and outputting a single channel through the small amplifier.
Oh amigo, eres muy talentoso y muy ingenioso.
I really need that boss pedal, I love it
Thanks for your amazing live music performance!
A sensitive song about our natural world, well done!
This performance has been cross-posted to the HiveStreet Community!
A virtual hub for street performers and live music on the Hive blockchain!
#virtualbusking