I love to sing and have had the priviledge of singing in many choirs over the years. It is an extraordinary experience to be an individual singer that adds one voice to others in order to form a collective voice both in unison and in parts. There is a lot to learn about the power of the collective when you make music with others.

One example of this is the concept of staggered breathing. In order to make a long phrase sound whole and seamless the singers take turns breathing, thus producing a constant sound, without pause. Each singer takes their turn to hold the note while those around them take a quick breath and then hold the note in return. It is a collaborative act that results in a constant flow of sound.

This is how it is with hope. We are all in this time, this song, together. This world needs a constant flow of hope and we know that alone, this is unattainable. The answer then is to come together.  We can lean on one another and sustain each other so as to not exhaust any one person. If we hope together, one person can pause in order to breathe, while others continue the work of hope.  Basically by adding each individual action of hope hope can be sustained while each person fills themselves back up.  (Some ideas for the pause: take a break from the news, get out in the fresh air, exercise, delve into the joys of living, gather with friends, take in a good movie and book, eat good food, dance.).   Know that adding your hope to the collective makes a difference, builds strength and creates positive change!

As the poet Brian Andreas writes, “there came a moment in the middle of the song when we suddenly felt every heartbeat in the room & after that we never forgot we were part of something much bigger”