Winter Freeing Refrains: Feb 15 & Mar 24, 2022

We excited to announce the dates of the next two Freeing Refrains gatherings and our first guest storyteller!  

Freeing Refrains resumes on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. with Conie B sharing more stories from their rural-urban mixed Asian perspective.  RSVP here.  

On Thursday, March 24, 2022, we welcome Merle Geode to share stories from their mixed Asian life.  Mark your calendars and RSVP here!

Bio:  Merle Geode is a mixed race (Korean and white) disabled genderfluid poet/writer, shamanic practitioner, and multidisciplinary artist based in Minneapolis living with metastatic breast cancer. They have a B.S. degree in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where they were a UW-Madison Writing Fellow. They were a food and features writer for several years for Isthmus and Our Lives Magazine in Madison, but their storytelling is now taking a turn for more experimental and expansive forms. They are currently an MFA candidate in Poetry at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and a mentor in the Write Like Us program for BIPOC writers across five local community colleges. Their poems and essays appear in Love, Always: Partners of Trans People on Intimacy, Challenge and Resilience; MNArtists; and poetry.onl. Currently, they are working on a picture book about anticipatory grief and death as an author/illustrator.

Jan 6, 8 & 15: Open Studios at Northrup-King Building

Come and visit us virtually during First Thursdays & Open Saturdays while we're a Studio 331 Resident Artist with Rosy Simas Danse at the Northrup-King Building!

First Thursday

• Thu, January 6, 2022, 5-9 p.m.

Open Saturdays

• Sat, January 8, 2022, 12 noon-4 p.m.
• Sat, January 15, 2022, 12 noon-4 p.m.

We'll be sharing a sampling of the following...

Heart Songs Setlist from Dec 20, 2021

Here's the list of songs we sang virtually on Dec 20, 2021. 

1. Come, come whoever you are* (Rumi/Dale Zola)
2. Welcome to the table/zoom call (clb)
3. You are in the right place (Martha Burford)
4. What we need is here* (from The Wild Geese by Wendell Berry/Music: Amy McCreath) - led by Nancy (Also some thoughts from Ana Hernandez.)
5. Sweet Surrender (text: Saint Symeon/music: Sophia)
6. Honor the Dark (Lea Morris) - Previous link is YouTube; here's a link to Bandcamp.
7. Now the Day is Over (Kerri Meyer) - led by Nancy (scroll halfway down)
8. We were made for these times (Clarissa Pinkola Estes/Linda Noonan)

* Click on "Attached Resources" button

Want to know when we are gathering next?  Click here for the latest post OR here to sign up for the reminder email (Select Heart Songs from the list).  

Want to know what we sang at other gatherings?  Click here for a list of posts on the blog and here for a list sent to the email list.  

We're holding the possibility of other local in-person song circles that are BIPOC/mixed-centered, street justice-centered, or queer-centered. If you'd like to hear about those when scheduled, drop us a line on the Contact Us page.

Jan-Mar 2022 Heart Songs Dates

 

What: Heart Songs: Lament, Longing, & Love (a community space for you to bring your heart and your voice)

When: every other Mondays, 6:30-8p CDT (05-UTC)

• Jan 3, 17, & 31
• Feb 14 & 28
• Mar 14 & 28

Where: Online: https://zoom.us/j/431161455 (see call-in options below)

Gather for an informal singing time to re-center our hearts in community. Simple songs will be led paperlessly/taught by ear by Conie Borchardt, other song leaders, and you, if you have a song to share.

Join us. Bring friends. (Signup for the email reminder here; select Heart Songs)

Songs will be about the human experience and in that way, spiritual in nature, but not specifically religious.

This is a space intended for self-care, however that shifts for you in every moment. Bring water. Come and go. Sit in a chair, lie on the floor, or stand as you need to.

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