 Dear Friends,
I'ts nearly August. My mind can't even comprehend that! This year has gone in slow motion. But the last 2 months have been a complete whirlwind. Our kid brothers, Samuel + Emmanuel (above), came down to Philadelphia to spend much of the summer with us.
Viewing the pandemic through the eyes of a child is a completely different reality. Our one and only goal was maximum fun and making as many joy-filled memories as possible - walks in the woods, swims in the creek, bike rides, bonfires, movie nights and lots of art!
After 5 weeks I'm spent! But the prevailing takeaway as we sat with them and had many difficult conversations around all that is happening in our country was not "Stay alive" but instead "Do Not Fear". So I am saying that to you as I start off this month's newsletter b/c it can be easy to forget that when you wake up in the morning and all the voices around you and inside you are encouraging you to live in fear.
Here are some more updates on what I've been up to and what's around the corner...
 LATEST INTERVIEW
My latest interview with Forefront Media was a special one. All my worlds collided as we talked about music, art, gardening, and faith. I enjoyed sharing my songwriting process, the discipline of rest, and the importance of making art in the midst of a pandemic. If you can spare 45 minutes, tune in! LISTEN HERE
 Art House 2020 - details below
UPCOMING SHOWS/TALKS
JULY 30 - Facebook Live @ 1pm EST Virtual It's been nearly 2 months since I did a Facebook Live. I'll bring the music and fresh flowers. You can bring yourself and a cup of coffee :) www.facebook.com/joyikemusic
AUG 7: Forefront Festival 7-9pm EST Virtual
This year's festival is virtual and features a keynote and breakout sessions w/ artists from various disciplines whose work covers the intersection of art and faith. I'll be closing with a 40 minutes concert and Q&A. AUG 9: Scribe! Street Movies 7:30pm In-person Philly Philly group Scribe! will be hosting a movie and discusion night of indepent local-made films. I'll be kicking off the evening with live music at 8pm sharp. Seating is limited to 50ppl in an outdoor space that allows for social distancing.
AUG 14: Arthouse Songwriters Workshop 10am CST Virtual
I'm so honored to be part of this year's Art House workshop - hosted by my favorite singer/songwriter - a woman I've admired and looked up to for years - Sara Groves. . I'll be talking about Context in Songwriting - how a song can live on through time and across audiences. We'll talk about songwriting as storytelling that does more than entertain, but rather engages an audience. We'll talk about precise moments and specific experiences and how they can become access points into greater stories that knit audiences together and pull back the curtain on a greater story. Registration is still open for this weekend-long workshop w/ those pictured above.
AUG 17: Sister Cities Park 11am In-person Philly
Join me for a live set at Sister Cities park this afternoon. This event is hosted by Center City District. Seating is limited to 50ppl in an outdoor space that allows for social distancing. Bring your lawn chair and lunch and soak in the tunes.
full details on the above at www.joyike.com
 either/or both/ and a reflection...
I'm told in the theater world that actors use the term "both/and" a lot. It opens up the possibilities and keeps people out of the limiting box of "either/or."
As I re-emerge from "day camp" with two 10yr old boys and catch up on almost 6 weeks of social media banter, I realize that nothing has changed...but maybe everything has gotten worse. I'm not talking about the latest news report, or the uptick in Covid numbers. I'm taking about the noise. Everyone is so loud, nobody is saying anything. And what's worse, we don't even realize how replaceable we are - interchangeable pawns in a game of "Either/Or". Frogs in a a boiling pot of water.
What if Covid had never been politicized? Race wars? What if fear weren't marketable - selling ad spots on the nightly news? What if party affiliations had nothing to with justice and health care? Guess what, they actually don't. We just love our opinions, out party lines...because they fit so well into our Either/Or boxes. Divisiveness sells and how eager we are to play the game, cast the stone, make someone look stupid so that we look better. We keep taking the bait- eager actors in a shoddy theater production. And as the daily flavor of fear finds its way to our phones, we volunteerily offer ourselves as tribute putting ourselves at the will of the gamemakers - fueling a system that doesn't actually properly serve any of its participants. Do yourself a favor and watch the Hunger Games trilogy...again. It will put everything in perspective.
I'm not surprised or alarmed by where we are or how we are handling this - ALL of this - as a country. How could we possibly expect our country to work together when its very foundation was built on divisiveness, when its loudest voices encourage it? So here we are: our volume has become our god. Our identities so wrapped up in what we can say and how eloquently we can say it. Our retaliatory spirit is all we have. But it sure doesn't feel like much... because all that anger eventually leads to despair. And if we're miserable we can just get louder because...why shouldn't everyone else be miserable with us? Why shouldn't everybody be spending their whole day staring at their screen shouting at each other. I mean, we've got nothing else to do, right. Maybe hopefully everyone will become angry and that will unite us. And if that doesn't happen, well then at least we can resort to apathy (Please don't mistake the sarcasm for support).
Look: The internet wouldn't know what to do with our silence, with our kind words. We'd break the internet if we decided to compliment instead of criticize. I'm sure of it. So I don't have much else to say (I'm already adding to the noise), but I'm reminded of lyrics from a song I wrote many moons ago that I unfortunately took off the interwebs: "the spirit of God speaks loud and clear with a still small voice you can barely hear unless you're quiet like a picture."
The song comes from a passage in Scripture where God tries to get the attention of a zealous, pious, angsty, distracted prophet Elijah who, in a smokescreen of fear, just can't focus on keeping the main thing the main thing:
"A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper. When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he hid his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there. A quiet voice asked, 'So Elijah, now tell me, what are you doing here?'”
What are we doing here?
No hurricane wind of words, no earthshattering admonition, or fiery daggers of disdain will accomplish what you or I really want.
I'm done.
As always, thank you for reading. I am constantly asking the question of how i can offer support to people in this time as so many suffer and long for more and better. Praying for you all!
Joy
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