Drum Circle Participants (used with permission)

It might have been the celebration to surpass all other celebrations when we rang in the New Year with a GONG at my New Year’s Eve party. Today surprised me however, we celebrated New Years in a deep, meaningful way at La Costa Glen, an independent living retirement community. These community residents are inspiring! The drum class participants are full of life, always open to learning new things, and always teaching me new things. This is a very special community. Authenticity and being present with the raw human experience both resonate with this group.

So, needless to say in celebrating the New Year, there was excitement, there was fervor, but most importantly, there was intention.  We started the session with egg shakers.

You might be surprised to find out that the egg shaker possesses deep, strong, true power when infused with one’s most personal wishes and genuine intentions for the New Year. We all took a turn at shaking out our intentions. These included certain states of mind, people to attract into our lives, and resolutions. We did not share our intention verbally. We only played the rhythm of our intention. Each person took a turn, played his/her rhythm out loud for the group, the group joined in with that individual’s rhythm for validation and acknowledgment. And then we moved on to the next person in the circle.

Once we had all shared our New Years rhythm on the egg shakers, we spread out a big white canopy sheet. Everyone grabbed an edge of the soft cloth. When we were ready, we threw our egg shakers into the canopy, sang Auld Lang Syne, then swooped our shakers as high as possible into the sky! Our intentions had exploded into the cosmos.

Then we drummed. Thanks to Remo, Inc., we were equipped with plenty of drums for a grand New Year’s rhythm ritual. We used a drum call, we soloed, we shaped and sculpted out our lives ~ our new lives of 2010 ~ onto our drums. Yes, these inspiring, vibrant octogenarians begin new, rich lives in the new year! We sang together while resting our drum-beating hands in between grooves, and the group even taught me a “new” song: It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie.

We ended with a special celebratory circle. One by one, we shared our intention verbally in front of the group, then we rumbled them in for the New Year. Some personal intentions (or as I like to refer to them “words from the wise”) included:

Experience each moment
No matter what happens live contentedly
Feel happiness
Come to drumming class every time
Attract positive people into life
Nurture good relations with family members

At the end, we counted down New Years on the drums with BIG BEATS
10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1  Happy New Year!

Afterwards, one gentleman approached me and with a look of sincerity, he said “You know, Kat, you bring so much joy to so many people. You really do.” I was humbled and touched. Music is powerful.