Year of the Dragon and Valentine's Day
The fire of passion and love, the harmony of everything in balance <3
February 10 was the Lunar New Year! We celebrated at Bowery Ballroom as we entered into the Year of the Wood Dragon. February 14 of course is Valentine’s Day, a day of love and togetherness. We are at the airport now, our flight severely delayed due to the windy snowstorm here in NYC. Soon enough though we will be in Florida at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, where we have a performance this week. <3
I will do a post from the garden and share photos of the beautiful nature and our adventures there, and first just want to recap a few things from the weekend, and in preparation for Valentine’s. 🌹
Here are two photos from Manhattan this morning. February snow after all!
To open the celebration on Saturday evening, my mom and I shared a few words about the Year of the Dragon from an article by Moon Omens: ‘Tonight we celebrate the Lunar New Year, The Year of the Dragon. It’s like a big, joyful reset button. It’s more than just a change in the calendar; it’s a time filled with hope, celebration, and the start of something new!’
I mentioned how it was also Losar, the new year of Tibet, and we wished everyone a Happy Losar, Tashi Delek! I also shared how our friend and collaborator, Tenzin Choegyal, Tibetan musician/singer/activist, was having his own Year of the Dragon concert in Brisbane, Australia where he lives - a concert in a planetarium to be exact! I pictured him there playing his dranyen and flute under the moon and stars, and we wondered if there was a way we could do something together in separate hemispheres, collaborating on a song across the world.
We decided to both read the Elemental Prayer, a piece that is very special and holds great meaning for each of us. The words come from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the Buddhist text and practice which inspired Songs from the Bardo, the album Tenzin and I collaborated on, released in 2019.
Long before recording this album, Tenzin and I were close friends and had performed live together for many years. Early on in our friendship, I was having a difficult time one day, and he sent me an email with two things to help comfort me: an MP3 of him singing his acapella lullaby, ‘Safe Passage,’ and the words of the Elemental Prayer. At times of overwhelm, if there was heavy anger or deep sorrow, Tenzin would remind me of the Elemental Prayer, a constant friend, always there to help balance the energies within and around us. This became a piece that was meaningful to me, sharing with others in their own times of struggle, and he and I started to perform it together. I would play piano, and he would sing the words in Tibetan, his voice carrying the feeling of each element as I read the passages in the spaces between. We have performed this many times over the last 10 years, at climate events with Pathway to Paris, at large concert halls, historic theatres, in tiny jazz clubs, and in well lit rooms with a few friends present. It’s a piece that has evolved with time as we’ve grown and found each other again, and its words continue to help balance and comfort, whether they are read, spoken, or listened to.
So at Tenzin’s suggestion, we decided for the Lunar New Year to both read these words, across the world at our own events, inviting the audience to share in this collective prayer together, a way to enter the Year of the Dragon wholeheartedly.
‘A Time of Unmatched Transformation: The year of the Dragon is upon us. This is no ordinary beginning; it is the awakening of the most revered creature in the zodiac, promising a time of profound transformation and boundless opportunity. In this year about to unfold, the Dragon urges us to soar beyond the clouds of doubt, to forge our destinies with the flames of passion and determination. It is a time when the impossible becomes possible, for the Dragon’s magic lies in turning visions into realities.’
Dragon energy is powerful. Depending on the intention, it can be used for harmony or it can be used for destruction. As we know, with great power comes great responsibility. Creativity, innovation, and fresh ideas can be both lovely and terrifying. It’s incredibly important to know this as fact. To know and stay in touch with ourselves as fully as we can. To check in regularly, to see if our elements are in balance, and to see if our dragon energy is being fully accessed and utilized in a helpful way.
*There is a lot of nuance here.* Nuance is where our most valuable inner work takes place, when we really get into the details, into the weeds. Nuance is where the magic of communication and collaboration can lift us to a place of higher evolution and everlasting peace. Black/white thinking about ourselves and others, and quick fixes to alleviate deep problems are the opposite of nuance. Being kind enough to ourselves that we know when we are out of balance, to know what we are needing and how to move towards it. Developing our tools and strategies for self regulation, developing our communication skills and our problem solving/critical thinking techniques. Offering that same space to each other with support, compassion, and patience. Continuously getting to know ourselves more deeply, asking ourselves what we need, how we can do better, what we are needing at any particular moment.
How do you keep your elements in balance? How do you recognize when they might be out of balance? How do you find harmony again? How will you keep your dragon energy in balance going forward in this new year?
Moments can be challenging. There is a lot to navigate, both personally and professionally, and from sources beyond our control. Sometimes people will be cruel to us, push us to our limits, ask more of us than we are able to give at a given moment. There is painful difficulty, and there is also beautiful hope. There is always kindness and warmth - if not standing there right beside us, then waiting for us around the corner with roses. And we always have the incredible ability to locate and amplify that kindness and warmth within ourselves.
So below is the Elemental Prayer for you in many forms: to listen to, to read, and to engage with. Also included is Tenzin’s ‘Safe Passage,’ from his album Heartstrings (my personal favorite of his), which is very soothing and peaceful, too. I find they are as wonderful and comforting of a combination as they were when he first emailed them to me many years ago. For that I am deeply grateful.
Arriving also is Valentine’s Day, and for some this is an exciting day. For others it is a neutral day. And for many, it might be a sad day for a myriad of different possible reasons. Here below is a poem written by Malaysian poet, Philo Yan. If you find yourself at any time feeling lonely or sorrowful, I send you lots of comforting warmth, and I share this poem as a way to locate the power, hope, magic, love, courage, resiliency, and fire that resides inside you at all times.
‘I am an unceasing fire,
The pivot of all energy,
The strong heroic heart.
I am truth, I am the light,
I hold power and glory
My Aura
moves away dark clouds.
I am the chosen One
To tame the Fates.
I AM THE DRAGON.’
-Philo Yan
‘And so, as the year of the Dragon dawns, let us step into its embrace with the boldness it calls for. May this year inspire us to reach heights unknown, to explore depths unimagined, and to discover the strength and wisdom that the Dragon sees within us all.’
ELEMENTAL PRAYER
May the element of space not rise up as an enemy,
may you see the Realm of the blue buddha.
May the element of water not rise up as an enemy,
may you see the Realm of the white buddha.
May the element of earth not rise up as an enemy,
may you see the realm of the yellow buddha.
May the element of fire not rise up as an enemy,
may you see the realm of the red buddha.
May the element of air not rise up as an enemy,
may you see the realm of the green buddha,
May the rainbow of the elements not rise up as enemies,
may you see the realm of all the buddhas.
May you know all the sounds as your own sound,
may you know all the lights as your own light,
may you know all the rays as your own ray.
Elemental Prayer live from Paris, 2015:
I asked Tenzin for some words about Safe Passage and he shared:
‘Safe passage - it is a piece that almost sounds like a lullaby wish. The words in the song are asking to be cleared of all the elemental obstacles. But all my songs also leave space for the hearer to make their own interpretation or stories.’
More pictures from the show and a live recording can be found below. :)