Cape Town Wedding Festival, 2012 24 November 2012
Today I sang at the Cape Town Wedding Festival, on Rustenberg Wine Estate, in Stellenbosch. It’s a 17th Century wine farm, rich in history, and I loved being there! What’s even better, is that I’ll be back there tomorrow! I was so determined to perform there for the two days, that I came up with the perfect solution – to work with my two favourite guitarists: today I did a set with Keith Tabisher, and tomorrow I’ll be working with Wayne Bosch. It’s very exciting – today’s accompaniment to my singing was the sound of two acoustic (nylon) guitars, and tomorrow, Wayne will be adding his electric guitar to my acoustic sound.
The live music slots are back-to-back, so the hour includes setting up, which means you actually perform for about 45 minutes. Before our set, there was a young lady with a voice like an angel. I’m sorry, I can’t remember her name – should’ve taken her card. She plays guitar and uses backtracks, as well, sometimes putting her guitar down and using just the track. I’ll get her name tomorrow. After us, a pianist who looks like Michael Moll (South African tv personality) did a set. Once again, even though I chatted to him, I’ve forgotten his name! Tomorrow I’ll take people’s business cards.
One card that I did take today was that of a lady selling a product called Zari. It’s an alcohol-free sparkling grape drink, and it’s delicious. A wonderful addition to the table of revellers who, like me, prefer to avoid alcohol.
There’s something about a Nomad tent that resonates with the gypsy in me, and that’s where I found myself singing today. Apparently, the live music was supposed to have been under the trees, but because it was raining, they moved everything into one of the Nomads. Perfect!
I really enjoyed working with Keith today - we did an exciting selection, covering our favourite rhythms: swing, bossa, samba and ballad. Tomorrow I’ll do a different repertoire, because the stallholders will hear me again, so they might as well hear new material. Also, I believe that, just as individuals have different personalities, so do duos. Different energy, different fun. There are songs that work better with Keith, and others that work better with Wayne.
It’s about 65km from my house to the farm, and I used the time alone, while driving, to do my Mind Power exercises. Today’s the end of Week 5 of my current programme, and I’m feeling very good! I’m motivated in so many areas of my life, and feeling an improvement in my life, in general. I’m more excited about life and finding so many things working in my favour, as I fill my mind with goals and work steadily towards them.
I always say this about Mind Power – the belief in it, as well as the practice of it: it’s a very personal thing. One thing I know is, I could easily keep this going for the rest of my life.
The Six Laws of the Mind:
- Thoughts are real forces.
- The mind is both a sending and receiving station of thought.
- The Law of Attraction – any thought which is magnetised/thought with emotion/intensity, has the power to attract similar and like thoughts.
- The Law of Control – we are not at the mercy of our thoughts; instead, we have the power to control our thoughts.
- The Law of Insertion – we have the power to insert any thought of any kind into our minds, at any time, in any place.
- The Law of Connection – the inner and outer worlds are connected. We generally react to what’s happening in the external world and behave accordingly, but Mind Power teaches us to set up an expectation or a preferred outcome inside our minds and, in so doing, control the external world.
My weekly exercises usually consist of the basic techniques taught in the discipline: acknowledging, affirming, contemplating and the creation of a new/preferred reality in one’s mind through visualising and ‘seeding’. Visualising is a well-known technique, where you picture your goal as if it’s already been realised. ‘Seeding’ is a technique where you experience the emotions that go with the realisation of the goal. So, in your creating period/session, it’s like you’re running a movie of the achievement of your goal in your mind. You go through the same thing every day, until it’s so real, you feel like you’ve done it already. In fact, by the time you achieve your goal, you’re not surprised, because you’ve been there before.
What I found, recently, was that I enjoyed the seeding and visualising so much, that it spurred me on to take concrete steps towards realising a particular goal. What’s of particular interest to me, with this exercise, is that scientists have proved that the brain can’t distinguish between pictures of things we’ve actually seen and pictures we’ve merely inserted into our minds. Cool! It’s also exciting that part of the technique is that you not be restricted by reality.
Two books have shaped my outlook on life tremendously, in the past 9 years: ‘Mind Power into the Twenty-First Century’ (John Kehoe) and ‘The Art of Possibility’ (Benjamin Zander and Ros Stone Zander). It’s good to be back, following the teachings of these books. Another book that I found powerful but very painful to read, because it hit me in the solar plexus with its insight and brutal honesty, was ‘Women Who Love Too Much’, by Robin Norwood.
But the book that’s had the biggest influence on me ever has got to be ‘Women Who Run With The Wolves’, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. I owe it to myself to read more of her work.
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Day 2 at the Cape Town Wedding Festival was even more beautiful than Day 1: the sun shone brilliantly, and this time we set up under the tress, on a lovely green lawn/meadow. Working with Wayne after a few months was indescribably satisfying. He played his guitar with all the finesses and sensitivity that make him the gifted soloist and accompanist he is. I met a few people who were stallholders, and have two potential wedding bookings.
As beautiful as the farm was, I think its distance from the city centre may have deterred festival regulars, as most of the stallholders said there hadn’t been many people attending this year. Definitely something for the organisers to consider next year.
Well, I had so much fun, I sincerely hope to be there again next year, wherever it is!
As I return to the daily minutiae of life, I know for sure that my soul craves wide open spaces, that my spirit soars when I’m in nature and its uncomplicated energy, and I know without a doubt that music makes me happier than anything else.
It’s as simple as that.
