Humble Request: Sustaining This Work, Together
by audrey voon
-
audrey voon
-
audrey voon
Street Address
City, State, Zip
503-310-2024
Your Custom Text Here
-
Hello, dear ones. I come to you this Sunday afternoon, whilst... doing dishes. After the lunch rush in our house, with a very humble, but honest and sincere request.
Some of you may have noticed that I am getting deeply involved in the Singing Resistance movement that was and is rooted in Minneapolis in response to the unlawful activity of ICE agents, the killing of innocent people and the incarceration of innocent people. And, this movement is growing, and it feels like the answer to a question I've been asking for a really long time, which is, what can I really do, you know? What can I do that is in my power, that is where I am in my strength? And really make a difference, and, you know, it's funny, because all along, I'm like, "Well, I just sing. That's what I do. But that's not enough. So I guess I'll just keep waiting and trying to figure out, you know, right action."
And then here we are and thousands and thousands of people across the country are saying that they need this, too, that they need to sing, too, and it feels like such a warm and welcoming entry point to activism.
I signed up for the training that was being offered by Singing Resistance, the organization, a couple weeks ago, and I thought I was signing up to learn some protest songs. And it's so funny because Tuesday of that week, I was singing with my choir. [Oh, those are dirty, Lua. Lua's trying to help me with the dishes.] Um, Tuesday of that week, I met with the St. John singers, who I sing with, and I saw my choir peeps and announced that I was gonna be recording my song "Worth Fighting For" later in March.
And, my friend LeeAnne was like, "Oh, I'm doing this training by the Singing Resistance people on Thursday. Do you want me to send you the link?"
And I said, "Yeah!" thinking I was gonna learn a bunch of protest songs, I was like, "Great! I don't know many protest songs from the movement, so that's cool."
And then I went home, and I was having this kind of realization that I have no idea what I'm doing. I've never sung protests before. I never really gone to protests, and I have very strong feelings about how I think we should treat each other as human beings, and many of our leaders and folks in our country are not. But I've never really taken action to speak out against it publicly, so I don't know what I'm doing.
And then I went to this training on that Thursday, and it turns out, yeah, we were singing some protest songs, but, they were teaching us how to be activists.
And I learned so much, and at the same time, you know, it can only scratch the surface in a two hour training. And, thankfully, it was a very educational and well organized training, and I just learned so much. And the way they have been providing resources and support ever since, even in the way they encouraged us to establish community and root into community in our geographic area in the Northwest, and then even more locally, in our own city and neighborhoods, has just been amazing to me. And the response.
I have never known this many people who want to sing, all at the same time. It's always kind of felt like, I don't want to say pulling teeth, 'cause that's a bit dramatic, but it's always kind of felt like... "Oh, people want to sing, but, uh, there's all this other stuff in our life, and I don't really, it feels like this is extra for me, and almost, like, it's not my priority. It feels a little bit, like, fluff in my life or something," you know? Like, yeah, I really need this, but, mm... something, something was missing for people, and this is, like, a BIG YES, a big, full body YES, for all of us.
Okay so... So we had our first meeting with one of the North Portland groups. I'm involved in two groups right now. And we had our first meeting last Thursday. And it was so beautiful. It was so connective, and to sing with each other, and meet each other, and hear why we were all there, and what we were bringing to the group, and to see that there are others who... who... feel and see the world in the same way, and that the way things are right now in our country is not... not how it's meant to be. And I taught a handful of songs from the movement, including a couple that are my songs, that were channeled through me, and it felt so good. And especially my song "Worth Fighting For," the response–the way people just really enjoyed singing it together–kind of surprised me, to be honest. I was not expecting people to love it so much. It's pretty simple, and, um... Just, you know, kind of repetitive, which is how protest songs kind of have to be to learn them easily. And people loved it.
And then, last night–I'm trying to learn how to use GarageBand on my phone, 'cause I really want to be able to kind of, to record more independently, especially when I have musical ideas that I just need to, you know, get out of my brain and into the ether–and so I was messing around and recorded, like, many, many layers, and I'll share the link so you can listen to it too. [Baby coos] Yeah, Lua likes it too. Uh, and I was playing it for Ananda this morning. That's our almost five-year-old. And she just kind of, she wasn't very expressive or responsive to it in the moment, and then a few minutes later, I was off in the other room with baby doing something, and I heard Nanda singing: "'Cause we are stronger together." And which is one of the lines in the song, and she just kept coming back to that song, that part. "No playin' small, 'Cause we are stronger together." Just playing, doing her thing, it was just coming out of her. It had woven its way into her consciousness, and it was... I think that was the biggest, most heartwarming and proud moment I've had as a songwriter and as a mama to hear my kiddo singing those words. Oh, my gosh, I'm going to cry, to hear my kiddo singing those words...that mean so much to me.
And, um, just more and more lately, these moments like this are telling me, "audrey," saying, "You have to sing." And now with this singing resistance movement, it's, "Sing for and with the people." And I think this is really a gift and a strength, and something I'm being called to do at a soul level, and so...
I'm speaking to you today with a very humble request, and that is, if you have the resources and the capacity to join my work that I'm doing and support me financially, I am inviting in patrons, contributors, supporters, co-creators, to join my Patreon. It's $5 a month minimum, if you want to pay, and free, if you don't have the means yet, or if you want to hang out there and check it out first.
This community on Patreon is, I think, what's going to allow me to continue to do this other unpaid work that I'm doing in the community with Singing Resistance. It's gonna allow me to continue to have the spaciousness to channel these songs through me and record them, whether that's on my own or in a studio with another professional, and it's gonna give me the spaciousness to continue to be with my baby right now, and to be available for my family, the way that I want to be. Because my postpartum time is coming to the point where we need dual, my secondary income that I provide.
So that's my request. If you have $5 a month, or, you know, 8 or 10 or 25 or 100, you wanna... send my way–you wanna funnel your resources to, uh, to our family, and also to this bigger movement–then I am inviting that in right now if it feels aligned for you.
And if making a contribution on a monthly basis just isn't feasible, but you want to give a little bit right now, I'll put a link where you can donate, do a one time donation on my website. It's the "buy me a chai" link. (Full disclosure: I might use it for coffee sometimes. No, not really.)
And there's also sharing it with your community. Word of mouth goes a long way in the arts and in this work, the spiritual work that I'm doing. So if you are feeling moved by the words I'm putting out there, the energy I'm putting out there, the music I'm putting out there, the way I'm engaging with the world, then I would invite you to share it with other people, even just one person, in your life. I think I have 163 people on this list, so I'm thinking about that. If each of you invited somebody in to join my Patreon, even for free, or shared one of my songs, protest songs, that really goes a long way.
And it's one way we can take care of each other.
My hope is that it's an exchange, that you get something out of this, too. That you get some soul nourishment, that you get some community, and a spiritual lift, and... and that we all get what we need.
So I think I'll leave it at that. That was kind of a long request, but I felt like it was important to give you some background.
I love you. And I am thinking of you all the time. I have pages and pages of notes I've written and little love letters I've written to you all that just–you know, postpartum, baby, young kids, and life–they haven't gotten sent out. But I am thinking about you always, and loving you from our little corner of the world.
Would love to hear from you.
Let me know how the songs are sitting with you.
Let me know what songs are bringing you hope right now.
Hope, being something that we create, something that we choose.
And I will talk to you all very soon. I hope.
Love you, beloveds.
Links:
Learn more about the National Singing Resistance Movement: https://linktr.ee/singingresistance.
Join my local Singing Resistance podwith me in St. Johns, PDX: tinyurl.com/SRSJPDX.
Buy Me a Chai (one-time gift): audreyvoonmusic.com/buy-me-a-chai.