Here, Now

In these disorientating and reordering times, we believe music can serve as the re-connective tissue, bringing the outer and inner worlds into some sort of momentary harmony. We find no better place to turn for inspiration than the natural world around us. Not only does the natural world offer an astonishing view of the will of life, but an illustration of the fact that we will at some point all return to it.  As observed by Maria Popova, the natural world offers us the opportunity to dissipate the self-involvement with which we humans live through our sorrows, in so giving us back to ourselves.

In this series we presented select artists the Poem Lost by by David Whyte (below) along with the premise of creating a piece of music they relate to the natural world. Not only a piece that each artist associates with some sort of harmony between their inner and outer worlds, but also a connection to the greater natural world that holds us all.  The result is 12 unique pieces, paired with cover art by by the visual artist Martina Hoogland Ivanow in which we are now proud to present as Series N°2 – Here, Now.

Lost by David Whyte:

Stand still.
The trees ahead and the bushes beside you Are not lost.
Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you,
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still.
The forest knows Where you are. 
You must let it find you.