radio interview on 'everyday connections'

hello everyone...


if you missed our interview yesterday...you can listen in at the link below:

Ena Vie & Howard Lipp radio interview

we had a great time talking with Rick O'shields and Jean Victoria Norloch were very welcoming and we enjoyed our time together with them.
you can hear a few songs too...
                         channels of creation & ashes to ashes from the album 'from within'
                         as well our song 'earth prayer' from our project 'earth prayer project'...


i hope you enjoy listening in...and stay tuned for new music coming your way this spring!
much love...
ena vie

Ena Vie and Howard Lipp 02/09 by Everyday Connection | Blog Talk Radio

tonight!

5pm Pacific - 8pm Eastern...Ena Vie & Howard Lipp featured on Radio Program - "Everyday Connections"

We hope you will tune in and join us for an exciting show!

Click link below to listen in and hear the link!

Ena Vie and Howard Lipp 02/09 by Everyday Connection | Blog Talk Radio

it's a new dawn...it's a new day...it's a new year...it's a new life...for me...and i'm feelin' good.

it's january ....2012...incredible how time slips by, sometimes quickly, and sometimes ever so gently, like a stream running by in the woods...i don't always know or see how much water has accumulated and gone down the mountain...until i reach the bottom of the mountain...and i see the lake where all the water has gathered...it is full and rich with so many stories along the way.






this has been our year of 2011...being on the road for almost a year, we are full of so many stories...meeting new friends, fans, faces, places - learning about the rigors of touring, the challenges of being in a car, with a dog, a musician/producing/performing/co-creating husband, all our gear, a few clothes and some food to get us to each destination...and then on to the next location. we got married three times!! once in esalen...with lorin roche presiding over the cliffs of big sur, the 2nd time in Hawaii, on the Big Island in Pahoa, near the warm ponds, presided over by Auntie Mahealani...and the 3rd time...well...keep reading...

the last few months have been very full...we have been hovering in the bay area in nor cal, we planned our 3rd wedding from the road, with 120 of our dearest friends and family, presided over by Denise Kaufman...at the home of Howard's brother...MC'd by Ena's brother, catered by the Krishnas, under a chuppa, with a conch shell calling in the four directions, a portion of the psalms read, a poem by shel silverstein and a quote from leonard cohen, walking down the aisle to mantras from india and leaving to a celebratory song from the depths of the amazonian jungle...i think we honored everyone from our community and our hearts!

after our wedding, we realized, even more deeply, how special our community of family and friends are to us, and how we have missed them all on our travels. it is because of them that we can go out and share our music, and it was very healing and renewing to touch base with our foundation and celebrate with those we love in our wedded bliss.

we dove deeply into the lessons of the road and how we want to travel differently next year, we played a rockin' new year's eve show down in san diego, we survived the holidays bouncing from santa cruz, to sonoma, san diego to los angeles and then some...and 2012 came and went...like a breeze blowing on a spring day...you notice something gently touching your face...and yet it feels like an old friend.

in the early part of january, we decided to land in topanga...our bodies have been begging for our own bed, the familiar smell of our pillows and comforter, a place to put our toothbrush and hang our clothes and make our meals...these small treasures have become something of a rare commodity as traveling troubadours...and at the moment, they have become priceless objects of our affection.

where Topanga Canyon Blvd meets the Pacific Ocean...bliss

in the middle of it all...we were supposed to go to the hawaiian islands and play some shows, festivals and gatherings...and without getting too much into the details...a family crisis prevented us from traveling the distance and making our winter shows impossible for us to fulfill.

we have heard the call...no matter how much more we think we should be giving...it is clear, for a variety of reasons, that we need to rest, stay in one place, land, stop and breathe....exhale............

today, i looked back over my past blogs and realized just how much road travel we have done, and yes...i think we have been brave, courageous and adventurous! there have also been so many nights we didn't know where we were staying, what we were eating and how we were going to make it to the next destination or gig...and through it all...it seems that on this side of things, i feel stronger, wiser, clearer and i know that this year is going to be very different.

how you ask?

one of the biggest lessons i learned this past year is to be honest with myself, my heart, even when my mind may be telling me something different.


for example...i have now called this past year of touring...the 'De-Mystification Tour'....because, most every large event we played i found myself saying...'this is what all the hype was about?' it just didn't seem that the events delivered what they promoted or what everyone was saying about them.

i learned that if i really want to play somewhere...it is because i want to be there...we are being fairly compensated and the circle is complete for both audience and performer (and venue)...otherwise we can't keep doing what we are doing.

so much energy, effort and resources go into sharing the arts...and being on the road has been one big, long lesson...one i am very grateful for..and still integrating the pearls, gems and diamonds...(you can be sure there will be plenty of good music and lyrics to come out of these experiences!!!)

winter is a time to rest, retreat, integrate, gather energy and place our intentions for the spring and summer....and this is exactly what we have been called to do...even when my mind and body are resisting and fighting against the truth of my soul....(go out and play more!! i hear in my head)

i have so much more to write about in terms of the shadowy sides of the communities we have played in...and i believe there is richness to be culled from this side of the industry and circle of players that we have encountered. so stay tuned to that...i am still working on my relationship to some of the encounters i had this summer of the dark side of the 'new age' and  'spiritual/conscious' movements.

thank you to all our beautiful new friends and fans we met along the way this summer...truly, without your love and support, howard and i could not have survived...and we feel that we barely made it to here.

so we chalk this up to our rookie year of being on the road - touring for 9 months straight!!! i think we not only survived, we succeeded in sharing our music and hearts with so many people and cities and states...and we are looking forward to seeing many of you again and meeting new friends and fans this year. we are soooo looking forward to going out there again this year, and we cannot wait to share our new music with you!!!! so excited for it to get out soon...

much love and gratitude and stay tuned for more stories and insights down the road.

aloha -
ena vie
www.enavie.com

Ena Vie on TOUR...Updates from the road #9

we are in the valley of the moon...or called by the indigenous peoples as, the valley of many moons...deep in the heart of sonoma, ca, where wine flows, vineyards roll across the landscape like the clouds that float across the sky, and we feel at home here, at least for the time that we are staying here.

what a gift it is to land somewhere, especially as we have been on the road for now going on 6 months! and...i think the tour has finally caught up with me, but i will get to that in a minute.

the month of september was spent at bhakti fest, LA shows/workshops, a trip to Florida, where we met many new friends in Melbourne and Cocoa and had the help of a new friend support us in sharing our MUSIC | MEDICINE | MANTRA with the East coast! we can't wait to go back next spring, and create an east coast tour.

we returned to southern california for a moment, organized our things, got rid of more stuff that has been in storage and headed to northern california for more shows in the bay area. fairfax, sebastopol, sonoma, soquel and harbin hot springs to name a few places where we have played since we have been up here...and now, we are recording in this mystical valley in sonoma. it was once populated with miwok, pomo and wintun tribes until they were displaced by europeans. the story of the name of the valley goes something like this:

According to the Miwok tribes that lived in the valley, and the Pomo, it meant "valley of the moon" or "many moons". White settlers may have accidentally translated the words "many moons" into "valley of moons". Miwok legends say that the moon seemingly rose from this valley, or was "nestled" in the valley, or may have even sprung up multiple times in one night.

it seems that there have been many moons since we have arrived here. and this week, with the new moon in scorpio, there have been dimensional shifts, lunar inspirations and revelations within my heart and perceptions that i am grateful for and they will probably show up in a song or two down the road. we are diving deeply into letting go...asking for the light of love, the light of divinity and truth to shine on all the places that no longer serve us...and now we are making new contracts. 

the place where we began is not where we are now, and yet i am reaching back in time, more and more, with compassionate love and acceptance, and offering healing to those displaced parts of myself, and standing in the present moment, with the assistance of future guides and wisdom of myself, knowing that all these different dimensions inform this moment.

i have been sick for the past week or so...and being sick is no fun. i was pretty much in bed for 5 days, and after not getting sick at all on the road, i guess it finally caught up with me, my body wanted to have space and time to release the stress of living on the road, of not knowing where we are staying or playing or driving...and this past week or so, i have had time to reflect, write, remember, dream and release that which no longer serves me. what a gift...i am grateful to have my health, and while getting a cold is nothing compared to other levels of pain and suffering, it did cause me to take pause. we have been traveling through so many worlds, communities and realities...and it seems that it was time for me to gather some of it up, let go of what isn't serving and meditate on my breath...allowing for this to be the guide.  

so many shifts are happening for many people right now, it seems that the light is reaching into the darkest of places, whether it is on the economic front, the spiritual front, emotional, political or physical front, everything is up for renegotiation...and this means healing and transformation at times, and it also can mean resistance, conflict, misunderstandings and frustration.

in the midst of change and flux...i am learning to continue to keep doing what i love...it helps me stay centered on what is important, stay connected with my heart and to pay attention to the direction my attention needs to stay attuned to.


our next and last show will be on the 4th of november at rudramandir in berkeley at 8pm. we are looking forward to playing here as we have been working towards this venue all summer it seems. we are ready to light the candle of our music, and send it out to those who will be joining us in this beautiful venue...if you can't make it, or don't live in the area...go check out their website...RUDRAMANDIR and we hope you can make it...it is going to be a beautiful show with special guests Kim Atkinson on percussion, Howard Lipp on keyboards, and yours truly on guitar and vocals...with some hand drums and percussion thrown in for a treat.

wishing you a blessed dance into the deepest stage of autumn, as the leaves fall from the trees, turning golden oranges and yellows, the veils between worlds become thinner and the connection with our ancestors and guides is felt more acutely as the days become shorter. 

until next time...

aloha and blessings -


Ena Vie


www.enavie.com
www.earthprayerproject.com

Ena Vie on Tour...Updates from the road #8

healing...releasing...surrendering...shedding...

these are just some of the words that have been swirling around my hemisphere of life as of late.

last i wrote (which was just last week...) howard and i were fresh off the bhakti fest block...decompressing from a summer of touring...california, oregon, nevada and hawaii. we have been on the trip of a lifetime...and often it is beyond magical...and many days, it is a far cry from glamorous.

we have not been in LA since we left last April, and we have spent the last week in Southern California due to a postponement of a workshop we were scheduled for in Florida. after spending the majority of the summer surrounded by pine trees, mountains, lakes, rolling hills, meadows, fields and plains...i must confess that returning to LA has felt like my soul was placed in a blender and my skin was consumed by a bad case of hives. so howard and i have been on edge...to say the least. it takes a bit of emotional and physical 'protection' to be in LA, or any large city, and we have spent all summer replacing our metallic bodies with more supple ones.

one day last week, howard's phone cracked and broke, we got a $64 parking ticket because we didn't read the 7th sign on the post that read..."no parking on FRI from 1-3" and it was 2:30 on Fri at verizon, where we were looking inside to fix howard's phone! then, we found out that our '97 volvo needs an $800 dollar overhaul, one of our workshops cancelled...and as we are living on a shoe string and a prayer...all of this in one day was a bit much to swallow...meanwhile we can barely breathe in the City of Angels.

we returned to our dear friend's home where we were staying for a few days in between the festival and our next gig, and i had a few tears in my eye...sharing with her our day...feeling overwhelmed and a bit frustrated that in the midst of us 'leaving it all behind for our passion' we were getting kicked in our behinds on the way out the door!

she looked me straight in the eye, with complete and utter compassion and love, and said gently,

'ena, no one said life was going to be easy. this is part of being human...and...you could be living a number of other scenarios, and yet these situations are merely this...situational circumstances. it doesn't define who you are, and it most definitely does not define or reflect your decision to leap for your passion in music and sound healing...it is life.........

silence...

breath....

silence...

breath...

acceptance.of.what.is.

yes...i remember...she speaks truth, i am having a human experience...and of course...i am never the victim, in fact...i am always the creator ~ co-creator.

another breath.

more letting go, and now, another letting go of some deeper sense of entitlement...perhaps i thought that if i let go of everything (home, clothes, lifestyle, city, cars, etc.) that was in the way of me and my dream (or us and our dreams...) that somehow the flood gates would open wide, the path would be paved, people would catch the vision and mission of our music and all would be well, easy, no challenges, no tickets, no broken phones, no empty venues, there would be millions of cd's sold, music spreading immediately like wildfire...and so on, and so forth.

suddenly i realized how grateful i was to be standing there, (or how grateful i am to be standing here) in the face of my friend's loving compassion and acceptance for who i am and what i was living at the moment...she was reflecting to me my own loving compassion and acceptance of who i am...that i am enough...and that this is all there really is.

i was reminded of eckhart tolle's statement...

"If you are aligned with the moment, the kind of action that you take is qualitatively totally different from the kind of action that you take when you deny or dislike the present moment out of the feeling that you want to get somewhere better than this moment."

right now...i am taken care of....

right now...i am loved

right now...i have breath

right now...i have life

right now...i am empowered to live this moment

and then....the magic of life is revealed again. or rather, my eyes can see the magic more clearly because whatever fears or doubts or frustrations or challenges that were occluding my vision...fall away.

ironically...the Florida workshops began to fill up for the following weekend, and invitations for more work and shows seemed to be appearing in our in-boxes...it was as if we needed to stay in the middle of the city, in the middle of the hurricane, to tune into, and re-member the Presence that is everywhere, in all things and made of all things.

my external circumstances do not determine who or what i am.

most often, if not always, i find that those fears, doubts, etc...are linked to the past and the pain from the stories of what i have lived, or they are linked to the future...and what i think may or may not happen. all of which are taking my heart and mind away from the present, from WHAT IS...and the infinite possibilities of the Universe.

so here is to the MOMENT...the vast, eternal moment of NOW.

here is to taking risks, without attachment to the outcome.

here is to living and cultivating our dreams and visions...and taking deep breaths along the way.

and here is to friends and community who show their support and love by being themselves.

all i am seeking and needing, is here, in this moment, within the PRESENCE of my spirit being, of who I AM...right now.

i am not alone.

you are not alone.

we are guided and loved.

'til next time ~

Ena Vie 

(ee-nuh vee)

Ena Vie on Tour...Updates from the road #7

Notes from the road...the road of life, the road of touring, the road of music, the inner road of spiritual remembrance, the in-roads of surrendering, being stripped down of all that is not WHO I AM to return to THAT WHICH IS...

this is in part what is unfolding on our TOUR this past summer, and our TOUR continues!

we just finished playing at bhakti fest this weekend...it was a powerful time for so many reasons...the biggest reason is the sensation of stepping into the river of bhakti, sanskrit for devotion, and floating down that river for 4 days, 24 hours of constant music, (save for a few thunder storms and rain)...and surrendering the mind, thoughts and anything else that is not in alignment with the divine to the moment.

if you ever get a chance to go to this festival it is well worth your time, effort, energy and resources...because the pay off is priceless. stepping into the vibration of ancient sound and language that is pulsing throughout the festival grounds, along with yogis practicing their yoga, meditation and art is something to experience...at least once...and for some...everyday. this is our 3rd bhakti fest, and our first year having our own set, and it was probably the most powerful festival for us because in many ways it felt like a homecoming. we left our house and home, recording studio and our community last april, of this year, and we have been out in the world giving our gifts, receiving gifts from others and being on the most accelerated learning curve of a lifetime!! (and i used to be a sprinter at UCLA - so i know how to move quickly!! this is nothing like i have experienced before, that is for sure). we have been honing our skills, playing in all kinds of places where we have been challenged with everything you can think of, and then to arrive in our hometown, see all our community and musician friends and have them reflect to us the positive reflection of our growth along with their love...caused my heart to open even more and realize that while this summer has been one of the most challenging of my life...it has made me a more professional musician, caused my mind to expand and let go...caused me to grow into the person i know i am ....and to cultivate a depth within that i only prayed for before taking this leap into trust and faith in the universe.

yes...we have been in our car, our volvo station wagon, crammed in with all our gear, our clothes, musical equipment and our 12 year old dog. yes we have been camping in tents, sleeping in new beds almost every night, not knowing sometimes where we are sleeping, where we are eating...and in the midst of it all...the sound frequency of our souls continues to guide us. we are being shown every day, and more often than not, every moment, how guided, protected and cared for we really are. there has not been one day or night that we have not been provided for, and while we envision our tour to unfold in new and more supportive ways...we can honestly look at the past 4 months and see that we are loved, we are not alone and we are walking down a road that is in alignment with our passion...so we continue, each day, each step, each moment...and it is unfolding in perfection. even when it doesn't look like it circumstantially...

so it has been a journey...and it continues! our summer season of festivals, house concerts, yoga studios and other venues up and down the california and oregon coast, nevada and hawaii is coming to a close...and now we are planning our next leg of our tour, this fall...in the bay area, winter in the hawaiian islands and we are looking to go back east in the spring....stay tuned for more dates and info for that as it arises.

go here ENA VIE if you want to explore more dates and info now.

in the midst of writing this blog, i was almost finished with writing this post, and somehow, as i  uploaded a few pictures, i lost the majority of this post...so here i am now, looking to capture the essence of what was written in reflection of this last month or so....and it all disappeared...what a metaphor for this journey we have been on.

breathe...

take another breath....

breathe....


just when i think i can write down my experience, capture it in a blog or in reflection...it disappears...of course the only way we can experience anything is in the moment...and then it vanishes...just like writing a song or recording or performing it. the song itself is expressed and written in the moment, and then the performance and recording of it is a whole different expression of it...and each time i play it, it takes on its own personality according to whomever is in the audience, who we are playing with, what is in the stars that evening and so on, and so on.

so here we are...reading and writing and sharing this blog together in this moment.

there are a few things i would like to share and recapture in this writing....

Peace Village Festival in Ashland, OR was a very special gathering where we made new friends and fans up at the beautiful Jackson Wellsprings....a sacred land holding the healing mineral hot springs that soothe the mind, soul and body. We had a great time sharing our music, listening to the gifts of others and offering medicine music around the sacred fires late into the evening and early morning hours. we were given the opportunity to share our hearts more intimately at few house concerts both in Ashland and Williams and this was probably the most special

we spent some time in Mt. Shasta camping and exploring the mountain, drinking from the pure, crystalline headwaters and sitting in the mystical lands of panther and squaw meadows....what a blessing to visit and be visited by this mountain...we will return again soon!

so now we take the next steps forward....sharing our sound and our hearts with new friends, in new locations and in new realms.

it seems that the moment i try and figure it all out, it falls a part...and then when i let go...i get more than i could ask for and see my life shining down in all directions and coming through me in all directions...as esoterically as this can sound, it is truly how i am learning to let go, be in the flow of the moment, trust that the plans we are making in the future are unfolding as they are intended to...and...i am not holding on to any of it.

come join me in the unfolding...come sit in the place of no-thing and everything...and let's explore together our souls joining in the union of breath, of sound, of passions shared and of hearts opening and returning to our true nature...which is LOVE incarnate in the moment of all that is.

see you down the road...and until next time...

ALOHA ~

we are going to be in the Bay Area/Marin/Sebastopol/Berkeley in the month of October and early November...so check out our website to find out dates, times and locations...here's a sneak peek at where we are booking now!

yoga of sausalito
harbin hot springs
open secret bookstore
rudramandir
devi yoga center

house concerts - yoga studios and more to come!!

we look forward to sharing in the healing sound of music and love with you soon!


Ena Vie (ee-nuh vee)

www.enavie.com

Ena Vie on Tour....Updates from the road #6 (grist for the mill)

aloha to all who read this...

i never did get to part 2 of the last blog entry...it seems that life on the road is so all encompassing that i have been challenged to get to a computer and write. so here i am, getting a chance to write and catch up and reveal as much as possible what has been unfolding and i realize it has been a month since i have written.

so much is being stripped away, not in a violent manner, but in a falling away manner...where the trajectory of my dreams are being replaced with what is...with the reality of hard work, perseverance, reassessing my intention, the vision...the dream...

being on the road is teaching me so much about myself through others....as in, i see myself played out like that in you...what you wear, how you dance, how you sing, how you laugh, how you express your emotions...including anger and joy, how you love, how you avoid, how you support, how you leave...it is all me as you, expressed as you in me...i know...this seems like a mind vortex or a play on words or some kind of new age jargon rearranged to sound like something important...honestly...this has been my experience the last 3 months on the road.

my beloved and i have hit the 90 day mark, and i have come to the place of what could only be described as the 'unknown'...

after living out of our car for the past 3 months, with our dog and music gear and a bit of clothing in tow, i am at a place of reassessment...how is it that we can share and be in service to the music which flows, and at the same time, feel supported, nurtured, nourished and reciprocated both energetically and financially??

we have played in yoga studios, homes, new thought communities, festivals, side cafes, lake side shores for dragonflies, in desert badlands and desert highlands, ocean cliffs and mountain peaks, a wedding, a fire ceremony, to crickets and to hundreds of souls, to no one and to everyone, to forest creatures and meadow birds, to city folk and country folk, during savasana and sun salutations...and all this in 3 months...quite a journey in a short amount of time.

we have had stellar musicians join us, along with the amateur, we have had professional sound men support us in sounding the best we have ever heard live, and we had a sound man who could barely turn the system on and after a multitude of sound checks, he still couldn't get it right, we had to soldier on with the show without being able to hear ourselves or each other...we have had people pay us more than we could imagine and we have been owed monies for which we delivered and the payee did not.

showing up, no matter what it looks like, and fulfilling my commitment to the music, to our mission (if you want to call it that) has been on the front burner of this journey...however, one of the biggest topics at the moment is...what is the point behind it all?

in the beginning, i believed it was to share a passion, a statement about life, a connection through sound with spirit, a conversation through song with community, a frequency between the rhythms of nature and humanity...

now...i am sitting in the 'i don't know'

i don't know what it means

i don't know what it looks like anymore (i never really knew what it looked like in the first place)

i don't know where this is going

i don't know if how we have been 'doing this' is how i want to continue

i have been challenged to face into all that i don't know...to surrender to this 'knowing' of 'i don't know' without indulging in fear or other insecurities...even though they surface from time to time.

i have been humbled by seeing others success, and supported to not compare, i have felt defeated when the outcome was not what i wanted it to be, only to find later that the expression of music or presence was felt through reverberations that were sometimes expressed through a message or email...who knows about all those that never said anything?

i believe that this 'place' of recognition that nothing is as it seems and everything is in perfect form and no-form is a space of new beginning...that something is constantly being formed in the darkness of the womb of the unknown and creating new thought, new expression, new sound from a place of deeper truth...

today...i posted this on my facebook page

gratitude for letting go of what i thought it was going to look like, for what i wanted it to be, for all that i imagined how it would play out ~ it is playing out like this ~ and so i am encountering it like this...thank you life - thank you to the great spirit within me that continually guides me into the unknown and reveals more ways for me to surrender to the loving allowance for all that is ~*~

this is the place i know i can return to...resting in the arms of the unknown, knowing that this place is full of creative power and unlimited love...the place of connectedness, of meaning, of existence of all that is...

as my feet deepen into the earth, my mind rests in the expression of my heart...and i open to more and more of the power that is the love of life.

thank you for reading...thank you for being who you are, and for walking in this life in the way that you are...may you feel the light of your being, that you are affecting those around you in ways you may never know...and may you know that you are loved for exactly who you are...

with aloha ~*~

if you would like to know where we are playing next...i invite you to go to:

www.enavie.com