In a quietly lit room, with candles flickering…
Owen O’ Suilleabhain was there. So were the rest of us. If you were of “the rest of us” then you know what took place. If you weren’t, you will never, sadly. But I will give a glimpse into the moment that Owen created for the Messengers gathered…
We learned of a poet, an Irishman with a gift, Seamus Heaney. We listened to his work, through the vessel of Owen, and it spoke to our notion of knowing our Message and carrying it with purpose…
[The closing lines of Station Island by Heaney]
Your obligation is not discharged by any common right. What you must do is done on your own so get back in your harness. The main thing is to write for the joy of it. Cultivate a work-lust that imagines its haven like your hands at night dreaming the sun in the sunspot of a breast. You are fasted now, light-headed, and dangerous. Take off from here. And don’t be so earnest, let others wear the sack-cloth and the ashes. Let go, let fly, forget. You’ve listened long enough. Now strike your note.
What is a Message but a note to strike? That true sound that must ring out, but only if you strike it. Yes, it can ring in community, but only you can strike it. No one is going to put the mallet in your hand or raise either to the bell. Only you, friend.
Owen reminded us that musicians above all are listeners. Something that’s true of all artists. And it’s true that everything is an art form if you’ll allow it to be. So what are you listening for that emanates from within? What are you doing to ring that sound out and around and around?
Remember…you are fasted now, light-headed, and dangerous. That’s all you need.
(Thank you to Owen for his beautiful performance and to our fellow Messenger, Roger Firestien for commissioning Owen for the 8th Gathering of The Messengers in the Assembly Room of the Powerhouse of the historic Roycroft Campus on April 4th, 2024.)
