My Divine Appointment

Today was a special day. I entered the room of a patient in "end of life care", full of family members. Yes, they wanted me to play and a beautiful tune, channeled from this patient came through. His wife commented about how he loved "classical music" so next I played the tune from Dvorak's "New World Symphony", which has also been turned into a religious song called "Coming Home". They loved it and I moved on to my other rooms. Five minutes later, that patient's daughter found me to tell me he had passed! I hope that the music "Coming Home" helped him to do exactly that - return home. I then was honored to play "Amazing Grace" for the whole family, which seemed to comfort them. I truly believe I was there at that time...by divine appointment. I feel blessed.

Special Day with Native Flute

It's been awhile since I posted, but I've been steadily playing every week for these wonderful people. My sweet husband bought me a wooden Native Flute for my birthday back in March, and I've been practicing on it so I could play this at Solace. It has such a sweet, melodious sound that is soothing to the patients. Today I found that several folks really connected with the sound. One man who was an x-Marine who served in Vietnam said that "it made his day and made his life"! That blew me away. I forget sometimes just how powerful this music can be to these people. I am blessed to be able to share this gift with them. It WAS a special day.

Comfort

The word that came to my mind this week was "comfort". As I went from room to room, it seemed like my music was bringing so much comfort to either the patient or the families. Some patients would sit up, close their eyes and just smile as the music came forth. Others would sing along when I played Amazing Grace. The families seemed to be calmed by the music. I am so grateful for this opportunity to bring "comfort" to those in need.

Holiday musings

What a joy it was to play at Solace over the holidays. Patients would sing along with my flute to Christmas tunes they knew or they would light up just recognizing them. I diverted from my normal "improvisation" somewhat to spread some holidays music joy. This week was fun to wish everyone a Happy New Year and see what melodic tunes they expressed through my flute. While one man wanted "jazz", the tune that his spirit expressed was more soothing and melodic. With that, he just closed his eyes and relaxed...telling me later that "this is just what I needed, not what I thought I wanted". Wisdom for us all.

Solace Ambassador of the Month

I'm honored to be named the Ambassador of the Month at Solace for the work I do there. It gives me great joy to put a smile on a face, to uplift someone who is sad or in pain, and have the opportunity to say to them..."your body may be hurting, but just listen to how your spirit is SOARING through my flute." Just saying this seems to help them, and it is my pleasure to do so.

What I'm learning from this experience at Solace is that often it's the families that benefit just as much from this music as the patients. One family member recorded the tunes I played and then played them back to the patient later. That seemed to be very helpful to the patient, especially when it was explained to him that this "tune" came from his spirit, expressing itself through my flute. I often say to them "your body may not feel so good, but your spirit is soaring! Just listen to this tune you're producing!" It's quite magical.

A special day playing for families of loved ones and for those patients who enjoy the music. One lady said "your music matches my heartbeat". Another lady said she got goosebumps and how the music made her feel special, once she realized that the tunes were "hers". I just get out of my own way and let their spirit express itself through my flute. She was amazed by this and got wide eyed as I explained, and then smiled so big. It made my day special too.