Hi Everyone –
Warm greetings and blessings to you all!
May you be filled with lovingkindness.
May you be safe and protected from all inner and outer dangers.
May you be well in body and mind.
May you be at ease and happy.
Interesting, how life’s lessons present themselves.
Since moving to Vancouver from Montreal in ’92, I periodically have had to deal with a condition known as candida – a buildup of the wrong kind of bacteria in my digestive system, fed by yeast and sugar. Challenging for a man with a REAL sweet tooth! AND, in choosing to ignore healthy limits around the kinds of food that I eat, the candida returns…
As I deal with my latest “round” of candida, some new thinking is emerging: What if I replaced the word “limits” with “boundaries”?
As a dear friend of mine said, limits are imposed upon us, while boundaries are of our OWN creation… And, as another dear friend said, boundaries allow me to be my best, so that I can best serve others…
All of this got me thinking about a book that I started to read two years ago: “The Power of Full Engagement”, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. One of the ideas within it that really struck me was “… performance is optimized by scheduling work into 90- to 120-minute periods of intense effort followed by shorter periods of recovery and renewal.” A healthy boundary around my time! I remember setting my day up that way, and being amazed at how much more present I was in everything that I did, and how much more I felt I had accomplished by the end of the day… Looks like it’s time for me to finish reading that book and fully absorb what it has to teach me. AND SO IT IS!
What healthy boundaries do you set for yourself so that YOU can best serve others and be FULLY ENGAGED? I’d truly like to know, so please e-mail me at NathenAswell@me.com and share it with me – we’re ALL in this together, and we have much to learn from each other. 🙂
REPORT
What an amazing summer it’s been! Here are my highlights from the last two months or so:
Performing:
– at Jon Lord’s Garden Party and at Unity Church of Calgary. Every trip to Calgary is sweeter than the one before, and my heart is FULL of gratitude for the Angels that I know there – most especially, Sheryl Guillaume. Much, MUCH love to you all for truly blowing my heart wide open. XO
– Kirtan with my buddies Sandra Dawn, Jerry DesVoignes and Frank Methuen right here in my neighbourhood. SUCH beauty in what we create! THANKS, dear friends – I truly love and appreciate you all. XO
– at Shanti Prema Hudes’ “Floatathon”, at Pacific Coast Church, at the 2011 CSL Asilomar Experience, and at Monterey Center for Spiritual Living – all in California. The more I travel, the more I find myself at home… and FULL of gratitude am I for every Angel that I meet along the way. SPECIAL THANKS to Karie Hillery, Rev. Kim Yalda, Lisa Ferraro & Karen Drucker, and Rev. Liz Mirante for sharing their journeys with me. XO
– at the Ministerial Graduation Ceremony for this year’s students of my dear friend Rev. Terry Shea in Burien, Washington. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Terry, and it gave me great joy to honour him and his students, to make music again with some great open-hearted WA musicians, and to see some souls who are becoming friends. Blessed am I! 🙂
And… Travelling to Stick Enterprises to trade in my NS Stick (walnut body, graphite neck) for a new one (ash body, bamboo neck). How happy I am to be at a point in my playing where I can truly appreciate the improvements and refinements that Emmett Chapman continues to bring to his instruments. THANKS, dear Emmett, and to ALL of your talented team, for doing what you do with such love and care. 🙂
(I also bought myself a SECOND birthday present from Emmett: A bamboo Chapman Stick! Have a look at it on my “Photos” page.)
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
BIG NEWS:
– I’m very excited about two upcoming trips. The first is to FLORIDA for SIX PERFORMANCES WITH my dear friend and talented singer/songwriter/Posi Awards late night jam buddy GLEN ROETHEL. (Details for all six events are below.)
The second trip is to OREGON for THREE PERFORMANCES and TWO CONFERENCES (Arts Northwest and FAR-West). (Details for all five events are below.)
– My song “MORE THAN ENOUGH” is now a part of a REVERBNATION PLAYLIST featuring artists that will be at the FAR-WEST conference in Oregon. (Here’s a link to the playlist: http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_songs/226139). THANKS to Jeanette Lundgren for putting this playlist together, and for ALL of the skills that she’s bringing to FAR-West!
SPECIAL EVENTS:
– In the midst of my week in Oregon, I’ll be driving up to DES MOINES, WA to perform in a CONCERT WITH my good friends SUE RILEY and RICHARD MEKDECI of EMPOWER MUSIC & ARTS. (Details are below.)
– On the HOME FRONT, I’m delighted to report that local Kirtan nights will now be a regular monthly event, that another “Heart Sing” (sing-along) concert is coming up, and that a “Potluck Picnic for Peace” is coming up too. (Details on all three are below.)
Here’s what my ENTIRE CALENDAR looks like in the next month or so. I’d be honoured to see you at any of these events. (AND please remember that I welcome any and all opportunities to serve you with my music; just e-mail me with your ideas at NathenAswell@Me.com.)
September
18, 12:30 PM – Unity of the Valley (meets in Sunnyside United Church, 15639 24 Avenue, Surrey BC) – Church Service (http://whiterockunity.org)
25, 11:00 AM – Unity of Vancouver (5840 Oak Street, Vancouver BC) – Church Service (http://unityofvancouver.org)
25, 12:00 PM – Centre for Peace (1825 W. 16th Avenue, Vancouver BC) – “Potluck Picnic for Peace”, to honour the International Day of Peace (on Sept. 21st) with music and interfaith prayers for peace (www.canadianmemorial.org)
October
2, 10:30 AM – Centre for Spiritual Living White Rock (14600 North Bluff Road, Centennial Park, White Rock BC) – Church Service (www.csl-whiterock.com)
2, 7:00 PM – Tsawwassen United Church (693 53rd Street, Tsawwassen BC) – “Heart Sing: Voices Uniting In Sacred Song” – sing along concert, with Sandra Dawn (vocals), Kenn Hutchinson-Surrette from Ladner United Church (piano), myself (NS Stick, vocals) and Shawn Soucy (percussion, vocals) – By donation.
6 – House Concert in Gainesville FL with Glen Roethel. (Please contact Elaine Mahon at ElaineMahon@mac.com to get details on the concert’s time, location and price.)
7, 12:00 PM – Shands Hospital (1600 Southwest Archer Road, Gainesville FL) – Brown Bag Lunch Concert with Glen Roethel (www.shands.org/aim/)
7, 8:00 PM (Doors open at 7:30) – House Concert in Jacksonville FL with Glen Roethel and I – $15/love offering. (Space is limited, so please Lisa Petrich at LisaPetrich@comcast.net to reserve your spot and to get details on the concert’s location.)
9, 10:30 AM – Unity Church of Clearwater (2465 Nursery Road, Clearwater FL) – Church Service with Glen Roethel (http://unityofclearwater.org)
9, 7:00-9:00 PM – Unity Church of Clearwater – Dance & Sing-along (YOU Benefit) with Glen Roethel
10, 7:00 PM – Unity Church of Clearwater, Peace Chapel – Café Concert with Glen Roethel – $15
14, 7:00 PM – Kirtan evening in Tsawwassen with Sandra Dawn Nash – $15-$20 sliding scale. (For more information, including the location, please e-mail Vivienne Grace at heartalchemist@hotmail.com)
16, 10:30 AM – Center for Spiritual Living Eugene (390 Vernal Street, Eugene OR) – Church Service (www.sgceugene.org)
17, 7:00 PM – Saltwater Unitarian Church (25701 14th Place South, Des Moines WA) – emPower Music & Arts presents “Music That Matters” Concert with Sue Riley, Richard Mekdeci and I – $12. Tickets available at Saltwater Church (www.SaltwaterChurch.org) and online at www.emPowerMA.com
18-20 – Hilton Eugene and Conference Center (66 East 6th Avenue, Eugene OR) – Arts Northwest Booking Conference (www.artsnw.org)
20-24 – Hilton Eugene and Conference Center (66 East 6th Avenue, Eugene OR) – FAR-West Music Conference (www.far-west.org)
(Private Showcase Schedule TBA)
22, 7:30 PM (Doors open at 7:00) – House Concert in Eugene, OR – $15. (Space is limited, so please contact Lisa & Skip McFarlane at SkipMcF@uoregon.edu to reserve your spot and to get details on the concert’s location.)
23, 9:30 AM Cascade Center for Spiritual Living (Jazz Station, 124 W. Broadway, Eugene OR) – Church Service (www.cascade.csl.org)
NEW WEB SITE CONTENT
As well as updating my “Calendar” and “Blog” pages, I’ve:
– added a few places to the “Recent Performances” list on my “Bio” page;
– added a link to a video of my song “Longing For Light” to my “Audio/Video” page;
– added the words to “Longing For Light” to my “Lyrics” page;
– added photos of a local Kirtan evening, my trip to CA, my day trip to WA, and my birthday presents to myself (!) to my “Photos” page;
– added new comments (THANKS, dear Vivienne, Karen Taylor-Good, Karen Drucker, Jennifer, Ty Andrews, Robyn, Alana, Shelley, Rev. Liz, Ty Ragan, Mojgan, Derek, Mark & Amy, Trinity, Sheryl, Pamela, Thomas, Janine, Mari, Rachelle, Debra, Nancy, Zoey, Lorill, Mahalia, Sandra, Rosanne, Marion, Rev. Dorothy – I greatly appreciate EVERY word!) to my “Praise” page.
Happy September and October, everyone. Go with LOVE and FULL ENGAGEMENT! 🙂
With love and gratitude,
– Nathen
www.NathenAswell.com
www.Facebook.com/Nathen.Aswell (I’d be honoured to have you as a Facebook friend)
www.MySpace.com/NathenAswell
www.SonicBids.com/NathenAswell
http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Nathen-Aswell