It’s been a very restful few days in Seattle, reminding me of forgotten summers and long cherished dreams. After a couple of nights at a youth hostel, we are now couch surfing with two very awesome girls. These days are all about being one’s self, making music, and living art.
Today was my official first day busking at the market. It was a very spiritual experience. To share my own songs for the first time in a public setting felt very liberating. There is a power in singing in a language that the general public can understand.
Singing in English, singing my own words, felt so honest and simple. The more I sing my own songs, the more I feel I am following my own sure compass; the more I feel that I am myself.
Still, as grounding as it is, it doesn’t bring the joy that kirtan brings. The way that kirtan touches the soul goes beyond words and language barriers. Both seem to be elements of my art, my life.
If kirtan is the boat (as the famous Bengali bhajan states “harinamer naukakhani”) then my songs are its wake, trailing through the ocean water which is this world.
