• Singing Alive is a communal singing gathering; it is not an opportunity to give performances, to create an audience

• The singing voice is the primary focus. All musical instruments are in service to it.

• The working premise of this event is that there is no ultimate ‘right’ way to sing a song. Outside of helping a song-sharer to remember a melody or lyric, or with pronunciation and translation, one cannot ‘correct’ a song that is offered @ Singing Alive, one can only, respectfully, offer another version(s) of that song.

• To support the cross-cultural sharing of songs

• We ask that you ‘read the room’ when sharing a song. This means: be aware that people are giving you a valuable thing, their attention, and to not abuse this gift. It means choosing songs that will be easy and accessible for others to join. It means keeping song shares reasonably short, keeping complex shares with layers, parts, rounds, or non English to a minimum, and to not, in the usual situations, offer more than one song @ a time.

• Be conscious of any noises (loud talking, laughing, drumming, strumming . . ) that might be disturbing to a song-sharing in progress. This includes singing elsewhere @ a volume that competes with a circle (esp. scheduled circle), already in progress

• Please aware of providing space for, and inviting, those less confident, or less extroverted, to share their song

• Many people have vulnerabilities with sharing their voice before others. Its an edge, a risk for some, often at a very deep level where reside other associated traumas and esteem issues. Please be gentle, kind, and by default, supportive if you feel the need to give feedback to those who have shared a song.

1)  The private nature of the annual gathering

2)  To be self-responsible for all my actions

3)  To understand and support the pillars of the organization, which are as follows:

Our Foundational Pillars

• • • • • Voice as Medicine: Our primary instrument is the human voice.  As intention is paramount to anything that we do, to fuel it we need emotional agency, which the human voice is well designed to carry.   As in:  choose the frequency, and turn the (emotional) volume up.  We gather in circles (aka, multi-dimensional ’spheres’) to teach and share songs, many of which give expression to the heart’s intent, to the ‘flow’, more than the ’goal’.  Songs are learned thru listening, joining, and repetition.  
        • Of Service to the Songs:  We regard songs as life forms, which are called, or ‘incarnated', into the human realms as they are felt and needed.  We aim to surface and attract songs of elevated frequency.  This thru doing the ‘work’ of consciousness evolution, i.e., the integration of the disparate parts of ourselves (healing).  We sing and carry such songs to ‘charge' them (and ourselves) and help this energetic ripple out into the world, to crystalize into form.  
        • Non-Performative Space:  We access song as experience rather than performance.  We do not run an entertainer / audience dynamic.  There are no stages, amplification, paid musicians, nor hierarchy of talent @ our events. They are instead DIY-styled, highly interactive adventures in Gathering.  Acoustic instruments are welcomed, though only in direct support of the voice.
        • Appropriate Economics:  We operate, to the extent we are able, outside the commercial matrix.  The dues of one yearly membership, covers all of one’s expenses @ the annual gathering.  Food, tea, songs, and activities are shared freely amongst members. On the afternoon of the final day, there is an open market place in which everyone may exchange goods, services, or other currencies with the community.
        • Ceremonial Space:  We endeavor to create held environments (supportive space).  This to allow social armors to drop, to engage the inner worlds needed to develop focus, gratitude, and presence.  Our space is co-created in reverence of our Mother earth, Father sky, and the greater family of Creation.  We set a tone to encourage the practice of singing and songs as Holy Paths of Creation, to craft our lives in conscious, curious, and enjoyable (fun!) ways.