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Κάλαντα (Διασκευή ΟΜ)

Greek Holiday Carol Arrangement

Ότι το καλύτερο για όλους

Wishing the best to all

This journey has taken us through many stations; experiences, people got on for the ride. Some stayed on longer than others; others transferred to other trains, as paths diverged or stopped.  

The train we are on has as destination positivity, albeit with occasional detours of regret.

Tunnel vision has led me to better discern surrounding energy; where I cannot see, I envision. Aura created by each encounter is another layer in Life’s surprises.

Summer 2021



FATE’S VOYAGE

Fate was hitched,
to many passersby;

Overexertion of insecurity,
seeking validation;

Time, nature, experiences,
providing therapy,
realization of self,
on voyage of fulfillment

20 August 2022


Continuum 
Approaching Balance

The sifting goes on,
searching for,
finding the nuggets

Friendship,
not based on quid pro quo,
not on validations

Where a smile
and conversation,
uncharacterized by simulation,
authenticate continuity

OM
25 Nov 2019


STRIKING GOLD
Reflecting on Friendship 

Process refined,
many years’ process;
Finding friends,
sifting through silt of characters;
Gold remains at the end,
forever enriching our lives
 
OM
6 July 2018

In the late 1980s, there took place a wedding ceremony, held in a city located on the Tennessee River… The event reflected manorial medieval trappings: six bridesmaids, six ushers, maid of honor, flower girl, ring-bearing boy, wedding planner, limousine, austere music. Mainstream “societally-approved” practices were superimposed on the couple. The only ethnic accents were the ceremony language and koumparoi (best couple/man and woman).

The groom (a musician) asked that the music of Manos Hatzithakis be played in the church; he was immediately dismissed with the reply "Who, that communist?"

Whose culture?

Read more about Manos Hatzithakis (also spelled “Hadjidakis”):

Click here

Πίστευε και μη ερεύνα. *
*Have faith and forgo thinking.*

or

Πίστευε και μη.  Ερεύνα....

How important it was for the immigrant class to survive, against many odds, to establish a foothold in the New World. The newly-arrived formed organizations, presenting fellowship, and a united front against
violence and discrimination.  Before long, however, the offspring of immigrants did all they could to emulate the values of the perceived ruling class.  It was now all about melding with the perceived puppeteers.  

Preservation of language? Not. 
Displaying the organized religion? Absolutely.  (The latter was
“acceptable” in the membership of established judaeo-christian dogmas and social classes.)  

Shepherds were needed to tend the flock.  The word went out; scores of plebeian priests travelled to the other side of the ocean, assuming leadership of the ethnic communities.  Thanks to the Ottomans, they were preordained ethnarchs, no introduction needed.  From that moment of arrival on the shores of the New World, the estate of clergy and their successors have held on to the mantle of ethnic leadership.

Results? The second and third generations identify with their ethnicity via the established religion; knowledge of the language and culture of their ancestors is barely minimal to nonexistent;  realization of present-day progression of culture, ethnic and other, is limited to the views as focused by the ecclesiastical prism.  All comes together at the annual festival, the ethnic version of the all-county fair.  Visitors leave the
festivals, thinking that mousaka, spanakopita, "Zorba dance/opa” and ouzo are the ingredients of Hellenic culture.  This has been repeated for decades, with a few tweaks in between.  It is reflected in Athena, barely holding her own (in the mini-statue tourist version), alongside a mini-icon of Miriam (aka Mary) sold
in the festival gift shop -- no contest -- the latter wins, hands down (and
clasped together, every Sunday).

OM
2018

Κάνατε κλικ. Click to listen

Φύγαν οι άνθρωποι και τα χρόνια, αλλά όχι η καλλιέργεια που μας χάρισαν ..,

People and years have departed, but not the cultivation they imparted …

CLICK. . ΚΑΝΕΤΕ ΚΛΙΚ

Οι σκέψεις σκορπίζουν στην μελωδία…

Thoughts scatter into melody…