65. Loving-Kindness with guest Wendy Luella Perkins

Notes: Wendy Luella Perkins sings to telemarketers, tells of her brother choosing her for his show-and-tell, and why she has a tik-tok channel. She talks about auditory memory, singing as refuge, and the reclamation of her voice. She describes the transition from singer/songwriter work into the Soulful Singing in 2002, and the challenges unique to this kind of therapeutic singing which is not professional therapy. We have the awkward conversation about money -- is it possible to make a living as a songwriter without commodifying song, which is a birthright? Yet again, Patty Piotrowski has created the most appropriate beautiful art in my mind because of the generosity and openness of the bloom.

Songwriter Info: Wendy Luella Perkins has been singing and making up songs since she was a very young child. When she was three years old, her older brother, Tim, took her to school as his Show+Tell item saying, “this is my sister Wendy Lu, listen to her sing!” She's been going strong ever since. As a singer-songwriter, Unitarian Universalist community minister, and founder, in 2002 of Soulful Singing (singing meditation for all) Wendy Luella leverages the power of song to build authentic, healing and joyful communities.

A prolific writer of folk songs and meditative chants and supportive guide who helps others to create their own songs, Wendy Luella's greatest joy is to bring friends and strangers together in the transformational circle of song. Wendy Luella has produced three CDs of original music, which you can find on her website. As a response to pandemic restrictions and recognizing the need to keep on singing in community, especially in difficult times, Wendy Luella transitioned Soulful Singing to online sessions in March 2020. Soulful Singers from all over have been gathering online EVERY SINGLE DAY since then and once a week on THURSDAY evenings.
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Everyone is welcome to join Soulful Singing via Zoom. Singing daily over the last 875+ days with wonderful folks from Kingston and around the world has encouraged Wendy Luella to share her original songs more broadly in what she calls her “Song Liberation Project” (The SLiP). She has written hundreds of songs and with The SLiP is sharing them one by one on TikTok. Wendy Luella grew up in rural Nova Scotia, and has lived in Kingston Ontario for over 25 years with her sweetheart and fellow musician, Charlie Walker. She loves waking early, walking daily, eating communally, crafting publicly, sharing deeply, gardening bountifully, laughing abundantly and of course, singing soulfully!

Links: 
Wendy Luella's website: https://www.wendyluellaperkins.com
and tiktok page: https://www.tiktok.com/@wendyluellaperkins
To email Wendy Luella: info@wendyluellaperkins.com
To join Soulful Singing every day from 9:00-9:45 a.m. Eastern Time, please click here for information: Wendy Luella Perkins | SoulfulSinging
(notice you'll need to email ahead of time to receive a link for joining, so don't leave it to the very last minute!)
Album that mattered: Joni Mitchell, Blue
Songwriter Wendy Lu wishes more people would listen to: Coco Love Alcorn

Nuts & Bolts: 
​Loving-Kindness: 3:4, major, zipper.
When All Is Swirling: 2:2, minor, zipper.
We're All Connected: 4:4, major, unison.
Trust In the Power: 4:4, major, zipper.
It's Good to Have a Song or Two: 4:4, major, unison.
To Love I Do Return: 3:4, major, zipper.

Visit abreathofsong.com for lyrics, more of Patty's artwork, and a way to nominate songs or songwriters for the podcast.

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