Making a Drum
August 26, 2024 – She called me calm and peaceful.
I’m sensing a pattern with blogging as well with my routines and ways of being. Maybe my weekly blog is a mid-week activity versus a weekend activity. TBD. It’s so ironic. I spent the past year trying to condition myself to “take Saturday’s off”… aka. “be a person day.” Sunday is a slow transition back into work and Friday night is a transition out of work. Of course there is flexibility and such with my time, but I feel that my mind, body, and spirit as become accustomed to having Saturdays off. This Saturday, I engaged in a 4-hour session on making a drum at the Two Rivers Art Gallery. Yes, being a part of this workshop is very aligned to “be a person day” but also aligned to my personal and professional development. It helps me practice.
It’s a beautiful drum. Elk hide. Thank Michael Antoine for making the kits and sharing your knowledge, stories, and singing and drumming with the group. What an incredible voice. I appreciated his pedagogical stance of pride, humility, and enthusiasm. It was a beautiful balance that was held together with humour, love, and culture. It was an amazing afternoon and I learned a lot from the experience… again. This is my second drum. I can keep this one. I loved how the day ended with a circle and the salmon song. It was so powerful and meaningful to me. My first drum is made of moose hide and focused on the wolf. The style, technique, and experience were different. I appreciate the localness and personalized nature of each drum experience. Thank you Two Rivers Art Gallery and Crystal Behn for hosting this event.
I believe I made my other drum almost 13-years ago. Wow. I can’t believe it. I was in such a different headspace then and I feel like it’s a new beginning. This Saturday, I wanted to focus on being present, to listen to the lessons the drum was teaching me, and to have my heart open to the course instructor and those who were sitting next to me during the course. I remained quiet and cognizant of what I was doing. I wanted to be intentional and in a “good place” because whatever I was feeling or thinking was going into that drum. After I took a big breath to centre myself mid-drum making and the person to my left said that I was “calm” and “peaceful.” That caught me off guard. I’ve never been called that. But at that moment, I was calm.
I noticed the frustration of folks around me. Looking for perfection, worried about doing things wrong, or feeling self-conscious of the quality of their work. For me, I was focused on trust, forgiveness, and self-compassion. I shared some of those ideas with my neighbouring folks to help them to be OK with what they are doing. I appreciated the unsolicited help from the person on my left, I helped (along with others) the person on my right and a person across from me. I found the validation and encouraging words from the instructor very helpful, but I felt like I’ve been here before. What I loved the most about this experience was the MATH. Look at it!! The image above show a how things were halved, quartered, etc. The counting, the symmetry, and the estimation (and the physics and chemistry too)… were all good!!
We were also provide supplies to make a drum stick, which was not in the original plan of the course. I took the opportunity and super happy with what I had made. I was such in a “good place”… I invited my daughter to go to Thanh Vu for some beef pho. This meal is one of my favourites and it makes me feel like I’m at home. I’m not Vietnamese, but I love the restaurant and the comfort and joy that comes from this bowl of soup and being with my kid. I hung up my drum and over night I could hear it “ping” when it was drying. There were about a half dozen pings and I noticed that one of the holes in the hide had ripped while drying. This “imperfection” is perfection. It’s my drum. SALMON is coming into my life in many ways. For this, I am grateful.
