Introducing myself and my journal: The Innate Wisdom of Rhythm in Women, Women in Rhythm

About Me:
I am a 35 year old composer, musician and multi-instrumentalist in the United States. All my life, I have sought to harness the power of music to change and heal the world. I started out as a child and teen studying classical music and writing pieces with the intent to raise awareness. I continued studying formal classical composition at university, writing orchestral pieces about the Ivory Coast slave forts, the Cherokee Trail of Tears and other issues dear to my heart. Ten years ago, I started traveling overseas to study musical systems of other cultures and thus, my search deepened profoundly. I studied in Ghana, Ireland, Morocco, Mali, and Turkey, seeking out traditional music.

While I've made my living as a music journalist and freelance composer, I'm at a crossroads in my life now. I've spent years in academia and in the music industry but the most powerful experience I have had with music was attending a sacred Gnawa ceremony with women in Morocco. I have begun transforming my path and forging a new way; right now, I am feeling around in the dark but I can smell what it is I'm yearning for and it involves women, rhythm and music, and deep emotional healing of our hearts. I want to empower women through music. I am currently working on educating myself more about healing drum techniques to complement my own ethnomusicological studies.

One of my clearest visions is to work and live in the developing world, empowering women and womens' issues through the arts. I noticed in the majority of my overseas studies ithat most often, women were not the musicians in their culture, but that the music-- even the healing music-- was generally for the men. This is something I would like to harmoniously transform-- at the very least, to give women opportunities to know music, to know rhythm, to know their expressive self in new ways. I strongly believe that we can release our pain through music, transform and empower ourselves by embracing and nurturing these creative impulses wherein infinite wisdom is rooted.

My Passions:
healing and transformation through music, Moroccan culture and music

My Challenges:
I haven't yet found a way to materialize my passions and support myself

My Vision for the Future:
Women will be empowered through music

My Areas of Expertise:
the music industry, academic music/classical music, Gnawa music of Morocco and the sacred ceremonies; emotional healing techniques (psychologically/philosophically such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, etc)