6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
We all wish to be happy, and in contemporary culture, we are bombarded with so many messages telling us that happiness is about feeling good, acquiring things, being young and wrinkle-free. But true happiness, what the ancient Greeks called eudaimonia, results from engaging life with meaning and purpose. How is it that turning toward death and grief can enrich our lives with meaning?
Come join us for this interactive talk, offered as part of the September 2018 mindfulness month at the Thomas Memorial Library, designed to evoke wonder about the possibilities of the human spirit and the meaning of a life well-lived. The evening will include stories shared from Dr. Baugher’s forthcoming book Contemplative Caregiving: Finding Healing, Compassion, and Spiritual Growth through End-of-Life Care (Shambhala Publications, 2019), as well as a guided meditation and group discussion.
We’re practicing Mindfulness this September! “When you change yourself, you change the world.”
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Please join us as we explore the multi-faceted world of CircleSinging, a form originated and cultivated by the renowned, improvisational vocalist and jazz master, Bobby McFerrin. Time in the workshop will be spent building jazz pieces “in the moment,” using many exercises and games designed to inspire vocal creativity. Singers will be supported in small group clusters, and for those who wish to solo, there will be ample opportunity to partake.
Originally from NYC and Baltimore, Kathy has had an extensive career in both music and academia. She holds a BA, Major in Theater/Speech and Minor in Vocal Music from Ithaca College and came to UMO to complete an MA In 1987. During her time in Maine, she founded the now burgeoning vocal program at 317 Main Community Music Center where she has been teaching voice for almost 15 years. Her musical exploits included singing in the band, Little Debbie and the Snack Cakes, in addition to the well-known vocal improvisational group Improvox, both of whom performed in a variety of venues and festivals throughout Maine and New England. Along with vocal improvisation, her latest passion is playing the Quartz Crystal Singing Bowls, a music medium she uses as background sound for Yoga classes and Opening Pathways’ workshops.
Artist Joanne Arnold has photographed at first light for nearly a decade. Her images of shadow and light, of pattern and starkness, of contrast and reflection speak to the beauty and simplicity of a world that’s right in front of us but that we often don’t see. Seen through Joanne’s lens, nothing is random. And everything, even if it appears to be abandoned or blown about, has a place.
Joanne Arnold graduated from Maine College of Art 1979 with a BFA in Painting. Regaining her visual self became a priority for Joanne ten years ago after her three children were off to college. One practice she began and continues now is to photograph at dawn every day, without exception, year round. She wanted to learn the lessons of showing up; of putting herself on the spot; to work with what existed before her and recalibrate the discipline of seeing; to be faced over and over again with uncertainty that would rekindle a spirit of invention and challenge her assumptions.
After a lively discussion a few months back, one of our regular Democracy Cafe attendees asked if we could discuss what the role of government could, and should be, in healthcare and education. Are these institutions best regulated at a federal, state, local, or personal level?