Great minds against themselves conspire (on Purcell's Dido and Aeneas)

How often do we sabotage our own abilities to find happiness with our own ideas of what we should do, what the other should have done, pride, or an idea of destiny? One of the many tragedies of human nature is how easily we are pushed away from enjoyment into pain. This is not meant in a judgmental way, but merely reflecting how easily we get in our own way to find and accept what we most deeply desire.

I'm in Houston now, getting ready to perform an opera based on a part of the Aeneid, where Aeneas finds Dido in Carthage, and they fall in love for a brief moment in time. Dido has many opportunities to chose happiness, and yet duty or guilt or pride, or even a vision of fate or faith gets in the way.

The composer for this story, Purcell, wrote this opera during the Baroque era, in the late 17th century. The idea of the microcosmos (inner world) reflecting into the macrocosmos (outer world) plays very much a part in the belief system of this age, and so also in the way we staged the piece and thought of the work. Have you ever had an awful thing happen in your life, and all of a sudden the skies opened and it started to storm? That's what we're talking about!

I've noticed so much shifting in our inner and outer worlds recently. You can call it due to the eclipse, the full moon, the shifting of the spheres. But also know that turmoil you may be experiencing inside is also happening in each one of us in different ways. Remember to be kind to yourself, take time to care for yourself, talk nicely to yourself and your loved ones, as you lean in and inquire what deep programs might have an opportunity to shift for more freedom or opening. We can chose enjoyment, awareness, deep feeling in any moment, and this may help.

Much love to you and all you are processing now in your microcosmos ❤️🕉🙏💚